Another Paranormal Experience
by XxMisaki EndouxX
Summary: Haruhi and Kyon start to realize their feelings for each other. At the same time, two new students join Haruhi's brigade; and they aren't all what legends tell about them. What will happen now? DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (Though I wish with all my heart that I did)

**A/N**: There ARE characters I own. They are constant characters in every novel I make, so you'll probably be seeing them appear in two or more novels later on. They are Shura Asuka and Sarah Viel.

Enjoy!!!

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**Chapter 1: First Kiss**

Kyon woke up, barely coping with the pain on his back from falling out of bed earlier that morning. Untangling himself off of the layers of sheets from his bed, he preceded to the bathroom for his morning rituals, while still holding on to his back.

'_I probably look like an old man_," Kyon thought to himself while brushing his teeth.

At that same time on a house further down the street, Haruhi woke up with a stinging sensation on her own back. Rubbing sleep off her eyes, she realized that she was on the floor with a mass of bed sheets on top of her. She looked annoyingly at the ceiling and said to herself: '_Did I just fall from my bed???_' Her anger was suppressed… barely…

Then, in a flood of images, memories of what happened last night came to them in a flash. The closed space incident; the large humanoid monsters; running around the school… and Haruhi and Kyon's first kiss. At that exact moment both of their faces turned tomato red.

"_That felt…_" Kyon thought and, almost as if by fate, Haruhi finished the thought with "_so real…_" Moments later, they thought the same thing again and burned it into their minds.

"_That felt so real…_"

Haruhi walked to school with distant eyes. She didn't give a damn about the things around her, eventually getting herself into some troubles such as running into people or some trash receptacles. But she didn't care. Her mind was thinking only about Kyon and last night. She was utterly confused of what to do. She was thinking about Kyon even before she got out of her house. And, due to a confession in her dream that Kyon liked Haruhi's hair in ponytails, she even wore one to school.

Her droning continued until she realized that she was walking at a different direction than usual to their normal high school facility. Her eyes and mind worked overtime to try and determine where she was.

"_This is…_" Haruhi told herself; her cheeks stained in red. "This is Kyon's house…"

She stood there spacing out and thinking about him again, ignoring the legion of high school students gossiping about her presence in front of her hesitant but ever loyal minion, Kyon, especially since she appeared cuter with her ponytail on. But she didn't give them a thought, no matter how much she wanted to kill them when she heard them talking about how Kyon was an idiot or other negative comments; but she did agree on one thing that people gossiped about him; that he was boring. And yet, that was probably the exact reason why she liked him so much. Thinking that, her face turned even redder; and, as if by cue, Kyon walked out of the door to catch a rare glimpse of an embarrassed Haruhi.

"Yo…! Kyon…" Haruhi said, saying the 'Yo!' with enthusiasm but the name 'Kyon' with less of it.

"Haruhi? What are you doing at my house this early?" Kyon asked innocently; but was unable to hide the faint signs of the color red on his cheeks; he was still bothered by what happened last night… and the ponytail that Haruhi had on. "_She's… cuter than usual…_" thought Kyon.

Haruhi, who also had no idea as to why she was in front of his house, thought of a simple yet, convincing lie that would look as if she was still her old self.

"I… came to ask you for… club activities!" Haruhi's lips twitched as she realized that her lie was almost perfect, if it wasn't for the constant presence of her now breeding shyness and liking towards her ever-hesitant follower. Of course, Kyon realized that she was involved with the incident last night, so he avoided that topic. He also avoided bringing up the subject as to why she was being so timid with him all of a sudden, lest to risk getting beheaded. They proceeded to school together. The atmosphere had everything necessary to become a romantic one. But they were speechless; they were afraid to talk to each other. Even Haruhi, who was known for her eccentric and reckless behavior, couldn't bear to speak to him. The whole trip to the school was silent until Haruhi, who was droning over him again, unconsciously wandered closer to him and their hands slightly brushed each other. This miniscule touch sent them both to the edge of oblivion. Their red faces met each other and were locked in that position. Kyon felt the world screech to a halt. The silence continued on for what seemed like an eternity and then, being possessed by the demon that originally got to him when he first talked to the girl, Kyon broke the silence between them in a statement he thought he could never let go in a million-billion years; though he said it accidentally, couldn't keep it to himself any longer.

"Haruhi… I-I… I love you…!"

Out of usual habit or conscious reflex, Kyon raised his arms to his head and prepared for an oncoming slap from the athletic brunette, which he fell in love with. "_OMG! I'm dead! Why the hell did I have to say it now?_" Kyon yelled to himself.

But, instead of a slap or a punch that could probably make even a grown up man wince in pain, Haruhi got rid of Kyon's averagely muscular arms from his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Kyon thought that Haruhi was teasing him; but the kiss felt more needing that mocking. He was utterly stunned by what the Goddess of the Universe did, although he was pretty sure that she was unaware of that fact.

Haruhi was too dazed at the thought of Kyon to stop. Her heart skipped countless beats as she continued to force-kiss her newfound love. She couldn't think straight; and that was enough to let her body take over from her mind. She wrapped her arms around Kyon's neck and took the simple, passionate kiss a step further. She opened her lips and pushed her tongue all the way inside Kyon's mouth, wrestling with his own.

Kyon, fighting the urge of his hands to work on their own, he scrunched his eyes as attempted to focus himself on the warm kiss.

"I… love you too…" Haruhi whispered as she pulled away from his lips. Their eyes met, showing their need for each other; not noticing that someone was watching them.

Haruhi and Kyon left their houses a bit earlier than usual. But, due to the little incident earlier that morning, they were late in getting to school.

"Okay, both of you, one tardy…" the teacher mumbled as he wrote something in his records. Haruhi and Kyon timidly walked back to their seats; on the farthest reaches of the chairs in the classroom, beside the windows; their face still faintly tainted red from earlier.

Haruhi, most especially, was the most mentally affected between them. She spaced out during most periods, getting scolded by teachers countless times. But her mind just wouldn't stop thinking about him; about how to approach him later on, about how to advance their newfound relationship, and about their kiss. The kiss that got her to want Kyon so much she couldn't just let it slide past her. She felt a surge of her usual self. Grinning, she told herself: "I'll get him. Even if it's the last thing I'll do." This sudden change in her mood sent a shiver down Kyon's spine.

"_I could tell she's up to something._" At that moment, he reminded himself to be wary of her for the rest of the day.

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Sorry if the story proceeded too quickly. I just wanted to give the point that Haruhi and Kyon's relationship was starting. And, I'm switching between this story and a Rozen Maiden novel so I may not be updating this for a while. Watch out for the first chapter in my Rozen Maiden!

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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I've decided to finish writing this fanfic first before getting to work on the Rozen Maiden fanfic. Updates will come maybe every 2-4 weeks tops.

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**Chapter 02: First Volunteer Members**

Kyon took a big breath to prepare him for that torment to come. His sweat was already cold and his heart was accelerating needlessly; typical signs of nervousness or anxiety. Seconds passed and Kyon was still too nervous to simply turn his head back and talk to Haruhi. Until a second later, he forcefully mustered all of the courage left in him from that morning and deftly turned his head around to speak to her, knowing that nothing will happen if he just sat there like a model on a photo shoot.

"Hey, Haru…hi…?"

The world ground to a halt. She wasn't at her table. Kyon felt so stupid after all that emotional conflict. He sighed and thought of the possible places to go where Suzumiya would likely be in and not cause any trouble. He thought for a while, crossing his arms in both annoyance and concentration. Several seconds passed until it became a couple of minutes. His eyebrows twitched in frustration at the only place he could come up.

"_Of all places to go without raising hell, it HAD to be the clubroom…_" Kyon thought while walking towards the door. His eyes were closed, reflecting on past experiences he'd given up his time… and money just to satisfy Haruhi's almost-impossible demands. And also, past experiences that was definitely going to his "Times When I Almost Pissed My Pants" portfolio. He stopped walking just before he had exited the classroom, scanning the room that had made him walk through hell and back. He remembered Haruhi's shocking introduction, Ryoko Asakura and Yuki Nagato's fight, when they filmed several scenes at the classroom for an amateur movie, and other quite embarrassing memories. He smiled and proceeded to walk-out of the classroom; his mind still pondering over unforgettable memories

As he exited the classroom, still thinking about past memories, he came to an abrupt stop. An immense feeling of malice instantly coveted him. There, in front of him, stood a girl, most probably an upperclassman. A pair of piercing light-yellow eyes gazed at him, giving the vibes of death all around it. The girl had unusual dark-grey hair that magnified her horrific presence, even though her body was very… curvaceous… sexy in fact. But even then, she felt too evil to approach… and she was blocking the door.

Kyon tried to think of the most possible answer to this feeling. A few thoughts came to mind including a certain Integration Thought Entity, a certain association of espers, and certain time-traveling folks. Kyon wanted to sigh in defeat for not figuring the situation out but, he had not time; the girl was walking closer to him! His heart raced while his mind subconsciously took notes of the girl's good traits: Her moderately long grey hair; her body, which was obviously finely toned and very… curvy; her bright yellow eyes that flashed a lot of emotion behind it. It seemed as though she was European or somewhere along those lines. And her face and chest… oh so delicate indeed…

He suddenly snapped back to the normal world when the aura of evil got too intense. He scolded himself, yelling, "_What are you thinking!?_"

"Who the hell are you!?" Kyon yelped while barely trying to get out of an imaginary border from the girl to avoid her endangering presence. He looked behind the girl to see if Nagato or Itsuki would be there to introduce her; but he found none. At that, he didn't notice that another person was behind him until he gently bumped onto that person. He paused, thinking of the horror that was about to come and, at the same time, he was preparing to yell at the person behind him if it was anyone he knew, especially if it was Taniguchi. A bad feeling welled up inside him a moment later and a slightly cold hand was placed on his shoulder as if trying to comfort him.

"Well, hello there, Kyon-kun," said the man behind him.

Kyon looked around to see a dashingly handsome young man with jet-black eyes and messy brown hair staring at him. They were equal in height but Kyon felt inferior compared to the person in front of him. He paused and felt time stand still and, before he knew it, the girl earlier was already beside him, looking at him with her bright eyes of malice. A feeling that resembled something like being sucked by a vacuum cleaner enveloped him. Kyon looked back at the male student beside him cautiously. The man smiled at him tenderly, sending shivers down Kyon's backbone. "We… need to talk…"

Kyon's eyebrows twitched and furrowed in disbelief from what he just heard. Just in front of him, the student who introduced himself as 'Shura' smiled at him, just like how a certain esper always does. And beside Shura was the girl he introduced as 'Sarah', who was doing something that Kyon always had thought only happened in animes centered on sadist or master-servant themes; she was hugging Shura's left arm without a care in the world; her face and closed eyes showing her obvious contentedness.

"Did I hear you right?"

"Yes, you did, Kyon-kun"

"Would you stop addressing me as 'Kyon-kun', it's embarrassing."

"As you wish, Kyon-kun."

Kyon was a bit frustrated at his ignorance; pretty much like that certain esper again. But, besides that…

"You… want to… join 'THE' SOS Brigade???" Kyon grunted after saying the last word. He kept repeating that question inside his head over and over. He wanted a straightforward confirmation from the guy in front of him; but he simply nodded, adding to his annoyance. But the issue of someone joining the crazy club Haruhi made wasn't the issue. It was because of the warning Nagato told him earlier on.

Yuki had warned him that anyone who would join the club would have a 97.127612761… (whoa!) chance of being a supernatural being. This didn't made Kyon any more comfortable knowing that another life-twister has appeared right in front of him. Judging from past experiences, whenever something new comes up, they would always bring Kyon one hell of a time running for his reason and life.

Kyon sighed. His head hurt from all the thinking over things he didn't really understand; aliens, time travelers, espers, etc. He wanted to believe that they really didn't exist. He did. Until he realized that his life wouldn't be fun without them. He thought about the fun and usually embarrassing things they've done; the movie filming; the school festival concert; the distribution of flyers at the school gates. None of them would have happened without Haruhi Suzumiya. And now, Kyon thought, what are these jokers supposed to be? Are they aliens? Are they vampires? Or are they secret agents? Kyon slightly hated himself for being really excited to find out what they were. He had to admit to himself that he likes his life the way it is now; chasing the unnatural, supernatural, UFOs and whatnot, despite spending a hell of a lot of money like some kind of joke. And, he had Haruhi to thank for all of it. He took his present thoughts into consideration; he smiled and allowed himself to be led by Haruhi's example.

He stood up from his seat and briefly looked at his watch. He still had a lot of time left.

"Well, let's go to the clubroom then." Kyon extended his arm out to Shura, who had a relatively curious look on him, and smiled. A brief moment of silence took over before he smiled too and took Kyon's hand.

"Yes. Let's do that…"

Kyon could've sworn he saw Sarah look at him menacingly; as if she was going to kill him…

Kyon shivered at that thought. The last thing that he wanted would be catching the predatory eyes of a potential maniacal killer.

'I'm only holding on to his hand, dammit!' Kyon thought aggressively, determined not to be pushed around by her like what Haruhi does habitually.

The death-stare was broken when Kyon released Shura's hand. It looks as if she was angry that he's touching Shura. Shura, on the other hand, continued to display his annoying smile like nothing's going on. Kyon tried to laugh it off; Sarah's mean stare mainly. He looked back at Sarah, who was now standing upright but was till clinging on to his arm. A thought of how good they looked together crossed his mind. However, determined to get them off his back, Kyon ignored all other thoughts and led them to the clubroom.

"SOS Brigade's

Clubroom Unavailable

Self-Activity Day

-Chief"

Kyon couldn't believe it. The clubroom was locked smack-dab in the middle of the day. No Asahina-san displaying her usual innocence; no Itsuki displaying his irritating smile; no Nagato displaying her blank look on a book that she's reading; and most surprising, no Haruhi displaying herself! But Kyon had to admit, she was still at it. She even stated that the clubroom is the property of the SOS Brigade when it is really the Literature Club who owns it. Now that he thought about it, that incident was another fun memory he had along with the computer blackmailing.

"So, I guess we're not signing in today…" said Shura with his usual rich-type accent and calmness. Kyon felt particularly bad about it. Not because he'd taken the new student's time to walk almost half-way through the school, no. He felt bad because he had taken HIS own time to walk half-way through the school. So there was no way he'd go back to the classroom all the way after that. He started calmly knocking at the door, already planning to increase his strength in knocking if nobody answered.

Just then, Haruhi opened the door with a smirk on her face. Her gaze scanned through Shura and Sarah before finishing at Kyon. Haruhi heard Kyon grumble when she stared at him for well over ten seconds. Her smirk turned to a smile as she broke the uneasy silence in the air.

"Who are these two?"

Kyon sighed and answered reluctantly.

"They said they wanted to join the club."

"Well, I'm sorry but I don't have a list of the clubs in this school."

"No, Haruhi. They want to join THIS club."

"Oh..."

Another moment of merciless silence took over as Haruhi struggled to verify what Kyon just said. Having new members was certainly not one of her business or one of her hopes, however, having new members would certainly intrude or at the least, affect their growing relationship. Well, the great Haruhi Suzumiya wasn't going to let that happen in the name of hers. She took Kyon's hand and dragged him inside the clubroom. She locked the door and pinned Kyon to the wall.

"Are they serious? Kyon."

"I don't know. But know this, I am serious about what they said."

Haruhi looked slightly irritated when she heard him. She pushed her head closer to his. Her eyes became a bit more menacing than they already were.

"Alright, I'll let them join because of the fact that I think they may be special. But..."

Before Haruhi finished her condition, she violently pulled Kyon's head to a passionate kiss. She felt him flinch but she didn't give him enough time to recover. She chanced a moment and swiftly slid her tongue inside of his mouth and wrestled with his own. Haruhi tried her darnest to push her body against his to achieve maximum contact on him. Her heart was literally on full throttle. The kiss lasted for a brief twenty or so seconds that seemed longer than it was. Both of them were gasping for much needed oxygen with their faces flushed.

"...I wont let them get between us, understand?"

Kyon managed to giggle his way out of showing his red face. Haruhi gently smiled and proceeded to unlock the door and signal the other two to come in.

"So, you two want to join the SOS Brigade, huh? Do ya' think you've got what it takes?" Haruhi proudly asked, back to her old arrogant self. Shura simply nooded while still wearing his already-familiar smile. Sarah didn't even budge at all.

"That's more like it!" Haruhi exclaimed while handing them both a thesis to fill out. A large smile was glowing on her face.

Shura was practically blazing through his paper while Sarah only started on hers once Shura was done with his, though with an almost equal amount of speed. At that moment, the others (Itsuki, Nagato, and Asahina) entered the clubroom at the same time.

"Oh, I thought this clubroom was unavailable. I felt a bit troubled when I noticed it wasn't locked," Itsuki explained, now with his constant smile. Kyon thought that the smile must've been glued on to him. Itsuki took a seat at the right side of the table and started to wonder about the two new faces. Asahina excused herself from the room holding on to the maid costume that probably cost Haruhi a fortune to buy to change at the nearby comfort room. Nagato was now, again, on her chair at the corner with another book on her hands.

Itsuki stood up and picked up a board game of Othello and signaled Kyon to play. Kyon, who was desperate to find something to do, nodded and sat across him at the table.

"So, you two are going to be new members of this club?" Itsuki asked curiously, although his curiosity was well hidden behind his smile. Kyon saw right through it. "If so, then nice to meet you. My name is Itsuki Koizumi." Itsuki gave his friendly hand to Shura while his other hand was placing the pieces and turning others on the board game. "The girl behind you would be Nagato Yuki and the young lady who just went out would be Asahina Mikuru."

Shura raised his head and offered his smile in return. Kyon felt very uncomfortable being near two male students with such awkward smiles.

"Yes, nice to meet you too, Itsuki-kun"

Kyon could almost feel Itsuki's discomfort in being addressed like that. Haruhi, on the other hand, was now at the computer, updating their site's member list.

Shura stood up and gave the papers to Haruhi slowly. He turned around and gave a friendly gesture to Nagato, who only responded with a single nod.

"_Looks like these two would be getting along like a plant and loam soil,_" Kyon thought, assuring himself of the peaceful future of the club.

"Now, may I ask, what is your name?" Itsuki asked. Shura paused for a while, answering when Itsuki let off a figurative tone off his mouth.

"My name is... Asuka Shura."

"Viel Sarah"

Kyon still had his eyes closed. He wondered why it got so silent all of a sudden. He opened his eyes to see Itsuki with a very, very, VERY rare-to-see alerted look on his face. A menacing stare took over as he glared at Shura, who seemed to be unaffected by the change in the atmosphere. Kyon looked at Nagato and saw another disturbing sight. Nagato had her book closed and had an even rarer angry look on her face. Haruhi, on the other hand, was still at the computer, unaware of the change of pace. Kyon felt very uncomfortable.

What was it that made these two usually-calm supernatural beings so surprised and menacing?

Thankfully, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. Haruhi doused the place with her overpowering aura of energetic spirits.

"Right, guys! See you later!" Haruhi yelled, grabbed Kyon's tie, and dragged him out of the clubroom, flying like a kite behind her. Kyon could distinctly see Itsuki leaving the room, still with his out-of-character look. followed by Shura and Sarah.

Kyon sighed. His hopes of a peaceful future was now put to the test. His mind was already tired and begging to skip the next class. Looking up, he saw a ray of hope. Dark brown strands tied at their base, flowing freely behind their roots.

"Haruhi..."

"What is it, Kyon?"

"You look cute... with a ponytail..."

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Umm... This chapter is a bit longer so I hope you enjoy. Now, about Shura and Sarah (who has now made their debut), they are also out-of-this-world beings but I ain't telling what they are. But they DO have something in common with espers. Chapter 03, on its way!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry if update came later than I expected. We had our classes extended over the summer vacation for our clearance to advance to the following year. I cleared, anyway.

I'm also distracted often by the game Wild ARMs 5: The 5th Vanguard. (Oohh!! AvrilxDean is on my list of to-do's!!!)

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**Chapter 03: First Date Proposal**

Again, that day, as Kyon would think, that Mr. Okabe gave them a really worthless activity; his tired eyes dwelling upon the blank sheet of paper on his desk as he thought of what to write in it.

"_What does he mean by 'Write anything you really like'? He's crazy!_" Kyon flustered; his already-tired logic and thinking were trying their best to come up with something to write. At one point, he considered writing 'Ramen' on to the paper but, came up short when he thought about what Haruhi would write on it. Knowing her from top to bottom, Kyon felt a bit inferior if he were to write something worthless while Haruhi would be writing something extravagant, so he took his time to think about the matter. Though, writing something random like more than half of the class might have done was also very tempting. Toying with his ballpen with his right hand, he began searching for the rarest answer to the most common of questions..

"Alright, time's up. Fold your papers in half to hide what you wrote then pass it."

Kyon felt victorious. He had written something pretty significant to his life that he normally didn't even think about, though it was pretty embarrassing to write in the paper. Wearing a relatively big smile on his face, he looked and reached out behind him to receive Haruhi's mystery paper, only to be met with Haruhi, also wearing a smile as big as his. Her present demeanor made Kyon a bit nervous and a bit… excited…

Upon receiving the whole class' papers, Mr. Okabe smiled and held the papers with his two hands. He gave the class a telepathic question, "_what do you think I'm gonna do?_" The class grew silent, either anticipating or wondering what their teacher is going to do. And, with a quick movement from his hands, he tore the papers apart.

The class gasped at what he did. Some of them were complaining and the others were keeping silent. Kyon, obviously, was one of those who were keeping silent. But, mentally, he was cursing the teacher from head to toe for making him think so hard his mind was already weeping.

"How does it feel that something you really like just got torn in two? I bet it hurts, huh?"

The class has gone silent, apparently understanding the message their teacher was trying to force on to them.

"That feeling you have just felt is only a meager experience from what you will feel when you DO lose something important."

The statement hit everyone hard. Even Haruhi looked like she was deeply affected moved. Oblivious to everyone's eyes, including Kyon's, Haruhi was at her seat, looking at her desk and still feeling sad about the paper torn.

Lunch time has finally arrived. To Kyon, the brief couple of periods before lunch break seemed like it lasted the whole day. Glancing up at the sky, he tried to calm himself and give him the much reassurance he needed.

"Kyon…" a voice called out beside him. Looking to his right, he immediately recognized the yellow eyes and short ponytail meant probably to impress him.

"What is it now, Haruhi?" Kyon asked blankly.

"Um… w… would you… I… I mean…"

Kyon could barely believe what he was seeing; his eyes widened a bit in surprise. Haruhi, Goddess of the World, was actually embarrassed to say something! Yet, she still had a feeling of confidence around her…

"Do you mind if we eat t-together…?"

Now, being SO very un-Haruhi-like, Kyon felt very uncomfortable. His mind raced to find a reasonable explanation for her present behavior. The usual Haruhi would most likely simply grab his tie then drag him around like some kind of rag doll to somewhere he has yet to know.

"Uh… Sure, why not?"

Almost everyday at school, Kyon's lunch would be a bento bought from a local convenience store. It sure sucked on the wallet and Kyon could probably his wallet's loneliness without anything keeping it company. But, that day was different. For the first time, and probably not the last time in his life, a girl has actually made lunch for him. And for Kyon, the most unbelievable fact about it is that the girl was none other than his Brigade Chief, Haruhi Suzumiya.

The setting was at the school rooftop together with clear blue skies and gentle breeze. They ate silently together, side-by-side. Both of them desired to end the silence but couldn't quite find the words to do it. For what the brief twenty minutes of being alone with each other seemed like an hour, they sat, eating without word, only relishing their moments of being with each other.

Then, as if by cue, two students slowly opened the rooftop door. One was a boy and the other, a girl. Both possessed such qualities of perfection others had to work their bones off just to come close. Without letting the two lovebirds notice, the boy snuck up close to them and gently tapped Kyon's shoulder.

"Well, we meet again, Kyon."

The sudden, unexpected disturbance made Kyon jump from his seating position, almost coughing up his lunch in surprise.

"What are you doing here, Shura?"

"Nothing special. We were going to eat lunch here when we saw you two together…"

Being seen together with Kyon has apparently left its mark on  
Haruhi. Her heart was practically running on nitro. Her mind divided itself to two factions; one regretting her decision of asking Kyon out for lunch, and the other thanking Shura for breaking the silence between them. But the thing was, she didn't even know that they ate at the rooftop. She had her experience of past excursions there as a precaution that no one uses that place. So something didn't quite fit in Shura's description. But, being the careless person she was, merely shrugged it off as a recently-born habit.

"It seems as though we have disturbed you. Should we eat at another location?" Shura said. By now, his rich accent was already unnerving to both Kyon and Haruhi. They ignored it for the time being, only commenting on his bad timing for his entrance.

By Haruhi and Kyon's insistence for them to eat together, they did. Their conversations were limited to Kyon-Shura-Haruhi with Sarah not speaking too often except when asked for her opinion. The topics were mostly about the past exploitations of the SOS Brigade (computer blackmail, baseball game, remote island vacation, etc.) in which Shura was particularly interested in, especially about the faked murder on their supposedly peaceful outing. It was until Haruhi unwittingly touched another topic.

"Your lunch looks good. Who made it?"

A curious look doused itself onto Kyon and Shura's faces. Not noticing it earlier, Kyon took a quick glance at the young man's lunch just beside him. It was well-made indeed. Half of the box lunch was rice with a meager heart-shaped topping; what it was is a mystery to him. The other half was laden with decorative side-dishes made to compliment the others perfectly; egg, sea foods, meat, etc. It was obvious that whoever made the bento wanted him the best.

His expression never did falter when he answered the question without hesitation, confident of the person in question.

"Sarah made this herself. She makes breakfast and dinner too…" Shura paused for a moment, leaving Haruhi and Kyon anticipating the incoming question he had. "Yours was made by Suzumiya-san, correct?"

Haruhi and Kyon's face turned redder than tomatoes. Both of them couldn't blame their redness due to the unusual warmness and refreshing breeze on that day. They were lost for words but still rushed to say something to the curious, mild-mannered amateur SOS Brigade member.

"You don't have to answer my question. I believe that it is none of my business what you two share with each other. If you don't like me sticking my nose onto your lives then excuse me and I'm sorry. However…" Shura paused again, grunted, then continued with his statement. "I do like it when people poke their noses in to my life." And with that, the bell rang.

"Well, we have a report to perform, so I should excuse myself for now…" And with that, Shura and Sarah left them alone. Kyon huffed, looked and met Haruhi's eyes staring at his own. They smiled at each other and at the rare experience they just had.

"That Shura character, he's really something…" Haruhi said; her eyes trailing towards the door from whence they came. Kyon couldn't agree more.

"Yup. He is pretty unusual, especially that girl he's always with."

"What, you've fallen for her too?" Haruhi joked, elbowing Kyon's arm.

"No!" Kyon retorted. "It's just I'm surprised someone could stay silent and motionless longer than Nagato can. I mean, isn't she strange as it is?"

"I guess you're right. So, is it Yuki who you've fallen for now?"

Kyon's eyebrows furrowed and his bottom lip moved forward, hating being teased like that. Obviously, he couldn't think of a good comeback to say to her. Haruhi smiled and elbowed him again, this time, with more strength.

"Come on! I was just joking! Cheer up! No need to pout!" Haruhi said, trying to cheer him up while now slapping his shoulder. Kyon could hear his arm cry out in pain. His eyes were closed so he wondered why the warm feeling beside him disappeared. He found out the reason why when he did open his eyes. "Get a move-up Kyon! We're gonna be late!"

Haruhi was already at the passageway of the door, waving at him, beckoning him to follow her. Her face had its usual first-class smile that made Kyon wonder if it was because of it that he fell for her, but immediately shook it off, knowing that it wasn't because of THAT. He got up, and walked towards Haruhi; a small smile was on his face, yelling at Haruhi to notice it.

"_Now, she's back to normal…_" was the thought that crossed Kyon's mind. "_So, should I ask her?_"

As he walked past Haruhi, she grabbed his elbow, causing him to stop from both the surprise, and her grip. At that moment, he felt like someone was watching them. But Haruhi was at a higher priority than that. He looked back to see her being out-of-character again. This time, she was holding his hand with both of hers tenderly, as if lovingly. He flinched at the expression she was wearing. For one moment when he last looked at her, she was yelling at him to hurry up before they get charged with cutting classes. But the next moment, this moment, her mood has completely turned upside-down.

She also flinched, for the third time; she was unable to speak out to someone clearly. She wanted to ask him out the following Saturday but just could get the word to come out of her mouth. She stood there, holding on to his hands without a word leaving her lips.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this," Kyon suddenly blurted out of nowhere. "Are you free this Saturday afternoon?"

It was as if Haruhi's word were taken right from her mind. Her eyes darted to look at Kyon; both of their faces were tinted red only, Haruhi looked as if she was about to cry…

"I mean… if you're busy the—"

"I'll go…"

"—n I understand… …uhh… what?"

"I'm free this Saturday, so I'll go…"

Her heart was ablaze. Her mind was fluttering and her thoughts were spinning. Unaware that Kyon's sudden date proposal was instigated a bit by her, she couldn't believe what just happened. Her smile grew to an expression of great joy as tears started running down her cheek. She threw herself onto Kyon's arms, crying her heart out, desperately wanting Kyon to comfort her. Kyon, on the other hand, allowed himself to resist normal logic; to break the comfort being shared between them and get themselves to class.

Last period was finally over. Kyon was back to normal, trying to figure out what the night has in store for him. Finished with arranging his school items, his view turned around to catch a glimpse of his Brigade Chief, who was now having trouble fitting something into her small bag. It was a medium-sized shoe box. Who knows where it came from but it seemed to contain something soft as Haruhi's fervent rocking of it didn't even make a sound.

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say. But he couldn't help it.

"What's that?"

Haruhi looked at him, apparently glad that he noticed. Being back to her normal self, he suddenly regretted asking her that question as she was sure to have something for him to do. And, sure enough, she had something for him.

"Kyon…"

"What is it?"

"Would you be a dear and give this box to Yuki?"

The word 'dear' made Kyon feel goose bumps on his skin. Where the word came from, he wanted to know. From heaven maybe? He doesn't have a clue…

Haruhi didn't give Kyon any chance to ask what it contained. He couldn't peek inside it anyway, as it had a small lock on the side. Without a word, she ran out the door after waving bye-bye. With a sigh of both relief and exasperation, he started his tedious walk towards the SOS Brigade clubroom.

"_I wonder what this box holds. It's pretty light for its size…"_

In wonder, Kyon looked at the ceiling while still heading to the clubroom, trying to guess what the mystery box contained. To him, the most likely object it held was clothes, or something along those lines. But, considering that it was owned by Nagato and was borrowed by Haruhi, he doubted his original thoughts and started guessing things a lot more unusual…

Maybe by coincidence or by fate, a teacher was scolding a group of student at the hallway, blocking the shortest way to the clubroom. The incident made Kyon take a longer route to the room, taking him through the shoe lockers. Incidentally, Yuki Nagato was there, already preparing to head home. Or so he thought; Nagato was actually waiting for him. He thought of the earlier obstruction as a blessing from God, err… Haruhi; not getting him tired from the lengthy walk to and from the SOS Brigade clubroom, or base as Haruhi liked to call it recently.

Raising his hand in substitute for waving it, he greeted Nagato with a not-so-unusual "Yo! Konnichiwa!" Nagato acknowledged the normal greeting and returned it with her usual blank look.

"Haruhi wanted to return this to you and, well… she asked me instead. Here…" Kyon handed the book to Nagato, who accepted it without showing any signs of gratitude whatsoever. When he thought about it, the only time when he saw her eyes warm up from their liquid helium state was when he held her after her battle with Ryoko Asakura. Seeing no response, he wanted more than ever to go home. He bid Nagato farewell and walked towards the exit, almost running through it, to escape school like it was reality. But then, someone stopped him or rather, he stopped because of that someone. It was the esper, Itsuki, smiling at him as always. But this time, his smile felt like it was pushing him away from the exit, trying to keep him there for some reason.

"Hello there, Kyon-kun." The honorific annoyed him yet again. He was about to say something along the line of 'get away from me' when Itsuki continued his statement; his voice demanding his full attention. "We need to discuss something, along with Nagato-san."

Kyon could feel the whole world pout, sympathizing for him.

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Agh! It's longer than I expected it to be… Anyways… the next chapter will be about Shura's intentions.

Special thanks to my friends for giving me with the much inspiration I needed. No thanks to Jan (pen name) for having this copy for two days without editing it as far as a simple single grammar error.

Review! Review! Review! I'd also like to know if you'd like Shura to be either an antagonist or a support character. Opinions are very much appreciated! Please, share your ideas!


	4. Chapter 4

Ugh

Ugh!! My head HURTS! It feels like a vacuum cleaner just went through it! My mind's telling me to do this chapter and the Rozen Maiden fanfic, AND a Zero no Tsukaima fanfic. BTW, I hope this chapter will give you enough info and help you decided whether he should be an antagonist or not… AAAAAAHHHHH HEAD HURTS!! pukes all over the floor

Shura: I prefer to be a supporti –

Misaki: Shut up or it'll be one week without your Xbox 360!

Shura: …

--

**Chapter 04: First Doubt**

Nagato Yuki: As I have already explained, the situation as it is is already as stable as it can possibly be, despite the factor that is you, Kyon, which appeared to Suzumiya Haruhi, changing the way her mind functioned and thought. Though unconditionally, the Data Integration Thought Entity have decided upon a vote of the majority that you remain intact to this world and reality. Though, there are those who voted for the opposite; to take action and terminate you and see how Suzumiya Haruhi responds. That group became the radicals, which also included Ryoko Asakura; my backup, and thus, the additional responsibility I've been given to protect you, including Suzumiya Haruhi, which concluded Ryoko Asakura's termination.

Kyon: …

Nagato Yuki: Three years ago, exactly four things occurred; all unconsciously instigated by Suzumiya Haruhi. You already possess data about three of the events that involved me, Koizumi Itsuki, and Asahina Mikuru. But, the data you lack is about the fourth event that took place 0.9200129187 hours after the three other events.

Kyon: _Screw three years ago!_

Nagato Yuki: Three years ago, roughly an hour after the explosion of data the Data Integration Thought Entity observed a torrent of dimensional vortexes the size of Antarctica appeared at exactly the opposite end of the world where Suzumiya Haruhi was located. Though there was insufficient evidence, the Data Integration Thought Entity concluded that Suzumiya Haruhi was also the cause of that phenomenon.

Kyon: -sighs-

Nagato Yuki: Seven-hundred forty five people were affected by the dimensional vortexes. All of them gained the ability to travel between dimensions and control the time in which they travel to and from them. Like the espers, they gained the knowledge that Suzumiya Haruhi was the cause of their change, made an agency and started observing Suzumiya Haruhi and her unusual fluctuations and influences on the surrounding environmental data. Though, they were quickly annihilated by one of their own kind…

VWVWVWVWVWVWV

Kyon was deeply troubled now; probably more troubled than he has ever been. The little conversation he had with Itsuki and Nagato burdened him greatly. Their warning made his mind fragile, ready to break at any given shock. Stay away from Shura, they told him. They didn't say anything when he asked them why. They just repeated the warning. Stay away from Shura. The words kept repeating itself on his mind like a broken tape recorder. It almost drove him crazy.

Shaking himself, he decided that it wasn't the time to blow. Today was Saturday and he only had a couple more minutes before the said meeting time. With that thought in mind, his heart started beating faster, nervous as to what was to come. What would he say? What should they do? Where should they go? So many questions filled his mind and he was rushing to find answers to it. He wished that Haruhi could've desired him a bigger brain than what he already had now. He sighed in defeat, finding no answers to his questions.

Haruhi arrived in the nick of time; only two seconds late and she'd be considered late. Kyon had hoped that she'd be at least a second late so that he'd get to penalize her. Hell, that's why he'd arrived an hour earlier that the said time. And again, he felt defeated.

Looking at Haruhi, he noticed that she was fairly tired; sweat was running down her neck and she was a bit out of breath. She had been running, no doubt about it. Running to avoid getting penalized by a lower member as Kyon presumed. Or, did the thought of penalizing Haruhi actually came from her? Again, he shook himself. The past incidents already exhausted his mind, so he wasn't ready to do any more hard thinking.

"What's the matter? Kyon."

"Ah, no, it's nothing. I just asked myself a few things."

"Oh, so you DO talk to yourself?" she asked as intimidating as the word can describe it. "Little Kyon feels lonely sometimes?"

"… Shut up…"

Haruhi laughed and cuddled snugly beside him. "Ah, it feels great to tease you again after all this time…"

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Midday passed by. They've spent an hour and a half with each other and the only thing they've managed to do is to eat lunch together while talking about life's ups and downs. Kyon regretted the fact that he didn't plan anything out before that day and, oblivious to him, Haruhi was also doing the same. Both of them sighed. Being it their first real date, they were inexperienced at anything romantic. Even though Kyon occasionally read romance mangas, he was too much of a coward to ask her about anything he knew, fearing rejection.

Haruhi, who was also new to dating whole-heartedly, pondered on how to spend their afternoon. Occasionally, she would drift back to her past dates where she would ruthlessly dump the guy she's with saying, "If you're not an alien, then I have no interest in you!" or "I couldn't care less about someone as normal as you!" Now that she thought about it, Kyon's an ordinary human so-to-speak. So, why does she care about him so much? Thinking about it made her head hurt.

As they strolled through a business district they had no idea where, they passed by a very tempting movie theatre that was previewing a similarly tempting romantic movie. Haruhi, sensing a chance to refuel their day, locked eyes with Kyon with her puppy-dog look. Kyon, right after seeing her face screaming, "_Let's watch a movie!_" sighed and smiled at his waiting company. Finally, something normal, he thought

"Why not, my princess?"

With that, Haruhi's face beamed with joy, half of it was because she'd see a movie with him. The other half was because she'd finally have her much-needed private time with him. Kyon also smiled, but with other reasons for doing so. One was because, apparently, she didn't notice the possessive pronoun he used on his last sentence. And two, he'd secretly wanted to see that movie ever since it began to show…

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Nagato Yuki: At exactly seven hours, thirty-seven minutes and nine seconds after the creation of the sliders' agency, a slider visited a dimension almost parallel to this one, tasked in finding out if a factor in that world somehow affected or bestowed the power Suzumiya Haruhi currently has. There he found a world dominated by humans and beasts alike, a massive ruin that contained an ancient power and its vanguard, an exceptionally powerful Ruin Demon.

Kyon: A… demon…?

Nagato Yuki: In human terminology, her external appearance does not classify her as a 'demon'. She is only a half-demon hybrid; having a human mother and a demonic father; thus, her human appearance and abnormal silence. She was called a demon due to tendency to kill anyone whom she sees.

Kyon: _I could say the same thing to you… _When you say 'her', then that would mean that this 'Ruin Demon' is a woman or a girl? I see… _not a thing…_

Nagato Yuki: Inside the ruins, the slider attempted in vain to study the ruins in the blind hope of discovering Suzumiya Haruhi's origins when the Ruin Demon confronted and almost killed him. But before it did, she gave him the ancient power sealed in the structure willingly and submitted herself to him as his servant. The reason why the Ruin Demon did that is still unknown. The Data Integration Thought Entity made several hypotheses concerning the matter in order to find a way to relieve him of his powers. The power that slider gained from the Ruin Demon surpasses that of the combined abilities of the Data Integration Thought Entities, hence, the high priority of the power's relief from anyone. Also, although insufficient data has been gathered, the Data Integration Thought Entity has basis to believe that the power that slider received from the Ruin Demon had fragments of junk data originating from Suzumiya Haruhi. With this newfound power, both the slider and the demon returned to this dimension and quietly and quickly terminated the whole sliders' agency and blotted their existence from this reality, heretofore, their unexplainable disappearance from this world. The reason behind their actions is still unknown. Three days, one hour and five minutes and thirteen seconds later after the slider genocide, they made contact with the espers' Agency

VWVWVWVWVWVWV

Koizumi Itsuki: When they came to the Agency, he introduced himself as the survivor of the slider genocide. Of course, due to our full-time occupation of destroying Closed Spaces, we had almost no knowledge about there being a sliders' agency and, since he was able to demonstrate his slider abilities well, we believed him to be telling the truth. The young woman he brought along didn't speak a word except the times when she and that slider were having a simple, unsuspicious conversation. But, however impossible it may seem, we were not successful in retrieving information from anything regarding an all-sliders Agency. Truth be told, I've personally had a lot of bad feelings whenever I was close to those mysterious pair. Even so, despite similar reports of that bad feeling to the higher-ups, they decided to trust him and place him on routine missions with the others.

Kyon: Wait a minute. If you guys really are espers, then, why weren't you able to find out more about him?

Koizumi Itsuki: Well, suffice to say that something hindered us from using our esper abilities in that particular investigation. It was as if we were not meant to find out about that subject. At first, we thought that the interference came from Suzumiya Haruhi, who we hypothesized had greater plans in her unconscious mind.

Kyon: …

Koizumi Itsuki: During their uneventful stay, I, together with that particular slider and woman, accomplished several missions without fail. Until one day, on a mission where I was unavailable at that moment, the whole team that was tasked to deal with a mediocre-level Closed Space disappeared without trace, along with the Closed Space and the Celestial that wreaked havoc inside it. What was more surprising is that they disappeared in abnormal time intervals where one disappeared after the next every three hours when the whole event only took five minutes. The Agency frantically searched for anything that'd help us find out why they had disappeared. We were shocked at what we found. Inside the remnants of the closed space lied a huge inter-dimensional time gate that such it was made was so intricately done, it was close to impossible to detect it using even our abilities. The gateway lead to a void dimension; a space with infinite volume and temperature but has zero mass. Anything sucked into it would blow up instantly. That was a fact, however, deep inside the void, we saw those two standing below, smiling at us like nothing even happened. After that, with just a snap of his finger, he made the remnants of the closed space collapse. That was the last we ever saw him.

Kyon: You're freaking me out now…

Koizumi Itsuki: I'm sorry. Point of the matter is, we want you to stay away from him.

Kyon: You mean away from Shura and that girl who's stuck to his arm like a permanent accessory?

Koizumi Itsuki: Yes. We have yet to discover his plan. But, to be on the safe side, stay away from him as often and as normally as you can.

Kyon: Is there a catch?

Koizumi Itsuki: No catch. Just that…

Kyon: …

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The movie took up about a couple hours of their time. Even so, Haruhi and Kyon had the time of their lives. Watching the last parts of the story where the man confessed his love to the woman got them both leaning from their seats and hold their breaths. Only after the man finally confessed after three minutes were they able to finally breathe again, which Kyon made wonder as to how they were able to hold their breaths for that long. Honestly, Kyon didn't feel the need to breathe in the middle of the suspense; he just hoped that Haruhi felt the same, which she did. Satisfied, they left the theatre smiling and holding each other's hands and started walking on a random direction that seemed right to them… and coincidentally… met them again…

"Well, we meet again. Good afternoon, Kyon-kun and Suzumiya-san."

Dark hair, dark eyes, irritating smile, and a grey-haired beauty latched on to his arm; it had to be him, Kyon yelled at him mentally. The warning Nagato and Itsuki gave him started repeating itself all over again inside his brain. It drove him nuts beyond proportion.

"What are you two doing here?" Kyon asked. Unknown to him, his voice had an obvious tint of anger and fear on it, making Haruhi and, not too surprisingly, Shura, a bit concerned.

"Come on, now. Don't ruin our date with your annoyance. We're here, enjoying each other's presence and trying to get as much fun out of it." Shura was direct-to-the-point indeed.

"You two are on a date?" Kyon asked, looking surprised and all.. Then again, noting how they looked good together, he calmed himself down a bit, knowing that he was right and he had no right to ruin their day, so maybe it wouldn't hurt to have met them this once. Then, looking at them closer, he noticed how different their tastes in clothing are; Shura wore an extremely normal set of clothes; a dark-blue collared t-shirt and cargo pants while Sarah wore a black, hooded sweater with the zipper pulled up and slim-fit jeans; Kyon could only guess that she wore something black underneath her sweater. "_How could these two be the ones Nagato and Koizumi mentioned? They look okay; and they act pretty normal…_" Shaking himself back to reality, he met Haruhi's probing eyes like they were scanning his innards, though he didn't think there was much to see except muscles, veins and bones; not to mention a bunch of overworked organs.

"Yeah…" Shura answered while innocently scratching the back of his head like he was embarrassed or something. "I kinda made a promise to… Sarah here that we'd… uh… spend the whole day together… Heheh…" His face had the word 'embarrassed' written in underlined bold letters all over it.

"So, is this your first date?" Haruhi asked right after a second of uneasy silence between the groups. Apparently, the word 'consideration' in Haruhi's dictionary also meant 'experimentation'; and that the word 'guilt' or 'pity' was unsurprisingly missing from that particular vocabulary. Without budging at all, Shura's face became all red as he tried to laugh her question off.

"Well, anyway, we have to go now. We still have a long afternoon ahead of us…" was his response to try and get away from her roused interest and they walked away from the wondering couple. Their leave managed to calm Kyon a bit more; but, oh, was it brief. A second later, Haruhi had one of her usual brilliant and selfish ideas. Well, not as brilliant as she think it is, but at least it's a start.

"Hey, Shura-kun! Why don't we come with you? A double date! How about it?"

In unison, the two young men quickly reacted similarly with a "WHAT!?" Haruhi smiled. She ignored their rejection, went up to Kyon and, since he didn't have a tie to grab on to, dragged him by his arm towards Sarah's side, not wanting to side at the other male; Haruhi's body pressed against Kyon's left arm. Kyon could've sworn that her smile would be able to light up a ghost town completely. He smiled and, since he liked the feeling pressing against his left limb, mentally asked the other guy if it was okay. Unable to do anything about the matter now, Shura was only able to nod, trying his best to calm Sarah down who was already acting up when Haruhi got close to him. However, needless to say, both of them didn't understand or know Haruhi's reason for wanting a double date. Either just letting it slide or not noticing it, both of them didn't ask her about it.

"_It's obvious that it's not his first date with a girl today. Maybe I'll learn a few things if we tag along…_" Haruhi thought with a snicker as they walked deeper into the city. Unknown to them, two individuals were hot on their trail, following them since they exited the theatre…

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Actually, this chapter only explains half of my original character. Sarah just tags along and obeys everything Shura says. Anyway, it has come to my mind that Haruhi only acts out-of-character when he's with Kyon…


	5. Chapter 5

Hahahaha! I could say that I'm bored to death after I finished watching "My Heartfelt Sympathy Ninomiya." The story is good, I'll give it that, but, after the series… I felt like something was missing… I feel like writing at least an oneshot for it… a lemon at that…

Enough about that!

I've made up my mind through your votes (though I kinda detest those who voted by sending me messages)! I ain't gonna tell you guys what my character's role in this story until the next chapter; to keep you wondering what'll he do. And, the conversations between me and Shura are based on the conversations held by me and my friend while I'm making each chapter. And, they're just there for the hell of it!

Shura: Hey, where did you get this info on my "Powers"?

Misaki: Oh, that? It's actually based from "Lemuria Impact" from another anime…

Shura: You mean "Demonbane"?

Misaki: Yeah, guess you're right…

Shura: That's cool… but that aphrodisiac mist on the island was waaaay cooler!

Misaki: … yeah… (Walks away)

BTW, I **STILL** do not own Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu! If anyone thinks I do, then, go cry at a corner!

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**Chapter 05: First Encounter**

"So, um… why are we here again?" Kyon asked, all the while blankly looking at the place Shura had dragged him to in the middle of their 'double-date' with Haruhi and Sarah.

"Well, Kyon-kun. This place happens to have a wide variety of facilities that offer romantic entertainment such as restaurants, picture booths, carnivals and such," Shura proudly explained. He looked at his Rolex watch and huffed in agreement to himself. "Okay, it's mid-afternoon. Why don't we get ourselves some food?"

Instead of replying, Kyon looked at Haruhi's face, which seemed to be in discomfort. Her grip on his shoulder has tightened ever since they entered the area. '_Something must be wrong_', was what Kyon had in mind. Though, he did like the feeling being pressed against his bare arm, he wanted to know what bothered her.

"Hey, what's wrong? Something the matter?"

Kyon took hold of both of her shoulders and looked deeply in her eyes. Haruhi was stunned at his advance. Only her iron will barred her from locking lips with him. The thing that bothered her quickly disappeared from her mind when he saw Kyon's smile when she said she was fine. However, inevitably, her will lost to her desire as she closed the distance between their lips to zero; their mouths now fighting for control over each other, trying to devour the other, not minding the crowd that started to gather around them, watching their happy moment. Even the mild-mannered young man with a girl latched on to his arm, couldn't stop himself from smiling at them. As much as he'd hate to break up their moment, he had to.

"Now, now, save your kisses for later. You two can continue when we arrive at our final destination."

Shura placed his hands on Haruhi and Kyon's shoulder, trying to get them off each other, which they did. Despite the deadly venomous aura being released by Sarah at that moment, his hand felt warm and welcoming. Again, he doubted Nagato and Koizumi's tale of his past.

Without warning, Haruhi's stomach suddenly growled ferociously, angry for being left on empty. Her face took on a bright red color.

"Why don't we get something to eat?" Kyon proposed while offering his elbow. She gladly took it and, with a quick glance, he knew what she meant.

"All right, I'll treat you. Same as always…"

"I know a great place to eat around these parts. The food there tastes really good while still being relatively cheap." Shura looked at the far end of the road and then back to the couple. He smiled his usual, already irritating but, very emotional smile. Taking the lead, he started slowly walking ahead on a direction much likely picked at random.

Haruhi and Kyon soon followed, running for a bit to catch up. When they did catch up, their positions allowed Shura to whisper a warning to Kyon; without letting Haruhi hear a word of it.

"We're being followed," he said. His smile has by now disappeared to compliment the serious look on his face. It creeped him out; not because they were being followed; it was because his face was only about three inches away from him…

…Atacertainfullyoccupiedrestaurant…

"This place is FULL of people!" Haruhi complained, looking around for an unoccupied table. "_Though it doesn't smell like human sweat like most fully booked places do…_"

"Well then, I'd suggest you two start looking for a table with occupants willing to share it. I'll order and it's my treat." He smiled and pointed at the bustling table area.

Haruhi shot him the 'annoyed' look and headed out to where he emphasized; her walking also shouted 'annoyed'. Kyon deftly followed, but not before grinding to a halt when Shura grabbed his arm.

"Those two hooded individuals under that tree are our stalkers. Recognize any of them?" he asked, pointing his thumb at the two figures outside the restaurant.

"Nope, don't know them," he replied after he took a quick peek. And that was only part true. The name 'Nagato Yuki' crossed his mind when he saw a small pocketbook the smaller stalker was reading. Though it seemed very unlikely that she would be a stalker, he nonchalantly dismissed it as a stranger.

"Tell me, are they bugging you?" he asked again.

"A little, why?" Kyon countered with a question of his own. He wanted an answer but, instead, received his constant smile.

"Oh, it's nothing." Then, as if nothing serious happened, he faced the counter and changed the subject. "What should I order for you two?"

Kyon sighed. He thought something was definitely going on. However, not knowing what it was and what to do, he ignored what just happened as simple curiosity of the mind and answered his question.

"Anything, as long as you pay."

That done, he turned to the table area, wanting to join Haruhi in her quest for shelter. He felt like the day has turned against him; meeting Shura in the middle of the day, just after he was given a dead-serious warning; being followed by who appeared to be stalkers; and getting to eat in a restaurant full of people. Just as he thought things couldn't get worse, he bumped on to Sarah's shoulder as he turned around.

A pair of murderous yellow eyes glared at him… ready to strike a venomous blow at any moment…

"What took you so long!? I've been here and there, looking for a table for AGES!"

Kyon sighed; another moment to ruin his day. Though, it did come in the form of a beautiful teenage girl who has just confessed to him after he had done the same. That fact reduced its impact at its very least.

"Well, whatever. Let's just find a table," she said, also waving it off.

Kyon scanned the room for three unlikely things; one: people about to exit the restaurant; two: people who has a table, but still has space to share; and three: a vacant table, which was THE most unlikely scenario at that time.

"Ah, there, Kyon!" Haruhi playfully yelled at his ear. Ignoring the silent wincing of pain in his ear canal, he looked at the direction where she was pointing.

"_Ah, a miracle by her majesty,_" he thought when he saw a decently large table smack-dab at the middle of the area occupied by only two people. Used to the sight of the unusual, he didn't ask himself why people hadn't thought about sharing a seat with the couple at the table; he was already thinking that Haruhi made it so to suit their needs.

"Excuse me," Haruhi intruded as normally as Kyon could define it. Though, he was also used to that act of hers. "_A way to stay out of trouble, I guess_"

The young couple at the table didn't hesitate to share the table when asked. They seemed nice in looks, and in conduct. Especially the blue-haired lady, even though Kyon thought her red eyes was producing a mysterious aura around her. Still, she was nice and, obviously, married to the young man across her (she had a wedding ring on her ring finger, duh!)

Taking a seat beside the male, he looked up at the counter to see if Shura had already ordered or was still at the line. Fortunately, he was already paying; food already at-and. Well, not really. Most of what he had ordered was in trays. The only thing in his hand was his drink, which was already half-full from his sipping.

"_He still seems normal…_"

Looking to Haruhi, he saw that she was already in an animated conversation with the woman beside her. And now, the man beside HIM was trying to spark a conversation of his own.

"A date?" he asked. Kyon looked at him and tried to sniff nothing to his nose.

"Yeah," was Kyon's answer. Feeling in the mood for a quick conversation, he finished with a question of his own.

"And you?"

"Me too…" was the man's answer; brief and to-the-point like his. "Now, do you have a plan?"

"A plan?"

"Yes, a plan. I messed up that part on my first date. But, creativity has its uses. So, do you have a plan?"

Kyon could feel his eyebrows sink in despair. THAT was his problem all day. And THAT was the reason he agreed on the 'double-date', to learn from Shura who, apparently, wasn't a first-timer.

"Nope. No plans here."

The man looked as if he was about to cry in pity. Carefully, as if not letting the women across him notice, he produced a brochure from his pocket and slowly handed it over to Kyon via under the table.

"Here, if you're going to spend your night someplace, might as well spend it here."

Kyon looked at the brochure and paused for a second.

"Are you crazy? This is a hotel brochure!" Kyon fumed in a hushed voice. He looked over at Shura again to see what was taking him and saw him arguing with the store clerk. "_He acts normal too; too normal to act._"

The man glanced at the brochure and made a short gasp.

"Oops! Wrong brochure," he said as he quickly, if not forcefully retrieved the brochure, fumbled around his pocket for a second and handed him over a new one.

Thinking of the hotel brochure, Kyon's face faintly turned red as an image of them making out ran through his mind. As he realized he was about to get a nosebleed and a drooling session, he quickly shook himself from his dream and blamed his actions on adolescence.

"Here. I know that this IS the right one."

He handed over a purple brochure from a carnival on the area. Kyon looked at it like a baby looked at its first toy. The young man beside him smiled at his enthusiasm.

After a moment of reading the fine print (something like his habit), he looked up at the man to say thanks when he heard Haruhi nervously yelp "Thank you!" to the blue-haired beauty. Of course, being Haruhi, she quickly realized what she had done and blushed like there was no tomorrow; breaking it up with an arrogant "What're you two looking at?!" ignoring the fact that the man beside Kyon was a stranger to her.

The mood was getting thick as Haruhi's glare drowned both of the guys at the other end of the table; the red-eyed lady beside her couldn't help but giggle silently, placing her hand over her lips. Thankfully, due to Shura's constant 'bad-timing', he arrived with a table plate in hand.

Eyes closed and scratching the back of his head in frustration, he said without looking at the situation unfolding, "Damn, they got me the wrong order. We have to wait till the food arrives." Hearing only silence, he opened his dark eyes to see Haruhi's stare shooting bull's eyes at Kyon and the stranger beside him like an arrow.

"Ehm… what's going on here?" he asked. Kyon looked at him with eyes like they saw a ghost. "Ugh… never mind…" he finally said and took a seat beside Kyon, ignoring his inaudible pleas for help.

A moment later, feeling her eyes tire out, Haruhi finally broke the death-stare, leaving Kyon and other to regain their composure.

Finally catching his breath and finishing his drink, he and his wife quietly dismissed themselves, leaving a thumbs-up from the man to Kyon and a wink from the woman to Haruhi. Seeing the parting gestures, Shura couldn't stop his meager curiosity from rising. He opened his mouth to start asking away before stopping, realizing that his curiosity may cost him his head.

Then, Kyon realized something; it was that something was missing. He thought that when Shura arrived, he'd get stared at to death by his partner, Sarah. A question arose when that thought came to his mind. Where IS Sarah?

"Hey, dude, where's Sarah?" he asked ever so numbly.

"Hey, that sounded like a commercial I've gotten fond of…" was Shura's answer, along with a smile. His smiled slowly deteriorated when he saw Kyon's look; annoyed like hell.

"Yeah…" his voice trailed off; his head traveled to his left. "I had her take care of some business…"

Kyon remembered from one of Mr. Okabe's enlightening lessons that, when asked, if a person looks to his right, they are remembering. If they look to their left, they are inventing. He hoped that this wasn't true as he WAS looking to his left.

"By the way, I suggest you move on to Suzumiya-san's side. Sarah's back."

Standing up and sitting beside Haruhi wasn't an easy feat. His head hurt from Haruhi's prior glare and every shaking it took made it hurt like hell. Fortunately, Haruhi noticed it and tended to it, running her hand at the back of his head, caressing it with utmost care. Unfortunately, Sarah arrived a couple of seconds later. She sat beside Shura and immediately grabbed hold of his arm and glared at Kyon again. Apparently, she still remembered Kyon's little 'accident'.

Taking notice of Haruhi's caring action towards him, he finally realized that it was starting to gain consistency. Caring about him wasn't un-Haruhi-ish for her, he thought. Caring WAS becoming Haruhi-ish to her!

Looking beck to his right, he took a quick glance at what Shura was doing; he was now arguing with a waiter again. Kyon processed their exchange of words and found out that it was another ordering mistake. "_Still too normal to be him…_"

He stopped a reflex of scrunching his face and looked back at Haruhi, who was now growing those 'kind' eyes Kyon has never seen before. Now that he thought about it, Shura WAS arguing with someone. He didn't stop to look at Sarah's face. He felt sure that it would've been priceless.

Then, the most unlikely thing happened. Not like hell just froze or a giant lizard that blows flames from its mouth appeared. Haruhi's gentle strokes of concern and care on his head moved down to his hands. Kyon felt her warmth. However, he also felt something like crumpled paper on her right hand, but it didn't matter.

"Haruhi…"

"Kyon…"

They said each other's names in unison. Upon realization, their face quickly turned bright red.

"You first, Kyon…" Haruhi silently offered.

"No, you go on…"

Of course, this was Haruhi Kyon was talking to. She quickly accepted Kyon's first offer and started first. "_She's still eccentric and arrogant as ever…_"

She accepted the offer looking confident. But after she did, she quickly shrunk down, a bit too shy to say what was on her mind. Rubbing Kyon's hand with hers gave her a bit of much-needed confidence. Though what really gave her the drive to ask him is when she looked a bit to her left and saw Sarah smiling at her (?)

"Kyon… would you… g…go with m-me to the... carnival?" Her voice, a bit shaky, Kyon noticed. And then, he wondered: "_How did she get the same idea?_"

Finally, getting too irritated by the paper on Haruhi's warm, delicate hands, he looked at the paper she was holding to see what he would be dealing with.

He felt all hell broke loose when he saw the paper photo-paper that she held. It was the same brochure the man earlier gave him! God's will, maybe? Kyon didn't think so. But, it WAS possible considering she's God and all…

Meanwhile… Shura was still at it with the waiter…

"Haruhi, I'd love to go to the carnival with you…" was Kyon's gentle response. It enjoyed Haruhi greatly; so greatly that she inadvertently threw herself to Kyon, almost knocking him off the chair.

"_I never thought running around, building my leg muscles would help me this much,_" he thought as he gently caressed Haruhi's hair. They stayed like that for God-knows-how-long. Maybe three minutes? Kyon blushed even more as he felt her soft, tender breasts press against his torso. Other than that, she felt very warm and welcoming. He was pretty sure that it was the first time he felt it before. And he was also pretty damn sure that he won't be feeling like that from anyone else. He knew what it was called… 'Love'

Placing himself in a trance of pure bliss, he almost didn't hear the sudden outburst of a middle-aged man behind him…

"Haruhi? Haruhi, is that you!?"

Haruhi looked-up at the man. So did Kyon; but not before seeing her eyes widen in surprise… or shock.

"Father!?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Woops! I had writer's block so I haven't written too much this time. I just wanted to mess around your heads when I mentioned Shura arguing with restaurant staff. (No, really, he did) (Rating for supernatural will be verified next chapter up 'til the last)

Shura: Hey, don't you think the last chapter was a bit too… informative?

Misaki: What do you mean?

Shura: I mean, you explained too much about my past on that chapter…

Misaki: What, you want the situation to be explained by a robot that calls itself Terminator MK II? Not to mention he'll be your enemy and he would look like Lara Croft (0o)…

Shura: No… I just wanted to –

Misaki: If not then shut the hell up!

Shura: …


	6. Chapter 6

Since I thought it would be fun, the last chapter had cameo appearances on it. Check my Favorite Pairings and search them out!

And, I just want to ask… will there REALLY be a second season of TMHS?

This chapter came earlier than I expected it to be… maybe that's what they call the miracle of inspiration or something like that… or maybe because I was too bored and had to vent my anger on fanfic writing.

_A/N: Maybe you're still wondering; do I own TMHS? Well, those who think I do should just walk away and try reading this chapter five feet away. Those who don't, well, thank you for your understanding… I do NOT own TMHS nor ever will I do (TT)_

**Chapter 06: First Favor**

"Father!?" Haruhi cried out, surprised, shocked, and dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of her father.

"_Father? You mean Mr. Suzumiya?_" Kyon questioned himself; mainly because he haven't seen Haruhi's father all his life. Now that he's here, watching him and his hold on his daughter, a bad feeling welled-up inside him. He couldn't help but think that the day might end at that moment. Sure enough, he didn't want it to end so quickly; he was enjoying his time with Haruhi, excluding the fact that Sarah was staring his life away.

"Haruhi, what do you think you're doing!?" his so-called 'father' asked impulsively; the sudden outrage gathered a crowd around them. Some were gossiping; some were keeping silent; while some other started clamoring.

Haruhi suddenly realized that she was still clinging on to Kyon. The air around her father became menacing, and she found comfort within Kyon's arms, so she didn't let go. Instead of answering her father's question, she retreated further into Kyon's embrace.

By her action taken, her father looked angrier than Kyon could handle. And it came to mind; the times when something scary comes-up, he would be able to keep himself calm and think logically, thanking his past experiences with the supernatural trio he'd been hanging out with. But, somehow, Haruhi's father scared him to the point of almost pissing his pants; he scared him even more than the murderous intent of Asakura Ryoko in the past. Something was definitely NOT normal about her 'father'.

By that time, the crowd was getting larger by the minute, driven by curiosity.

Again, her father repeated his question, looking as pissed-off as ever. A long, torturing pause followed soon after. Kyon could feel the whole world stop to witness this scene.

Haruhi's always found Kyon's presence to be very warm, and comforting. She felt invincible every time she was with him. But, some way or another, physiological or not, her father's presence didn't seem to comply. He seemed to loom over them with such dominance that even she couldn't oppose. Then, it hit her. That was the first time that her father became like that; seemingly so powerful and influential. "_Something's wrong,_" was the thought that crossed her mind as she stood up to confront her father.

"I asked, what are you doing with that boy?!" her father blurted again. This time, Haruhi finally snapped.

She was about to say something like "_What do you think you're doing?_" when, instead, to everybody's surprise, Shura suddenly stood up and took on Haruhi's father instead.

Tapping her father lightly on his shoulder, Shura started.

"Would you mind if I asked, how are you _really_ related to Suzumiya-san over there?" he asked ever so innocently… Maybe he was deaf or something that he didn't hear what Haruhi said earlier.

"What do you mean? Didn't you hear me and her? I'm her father, boy!"

After hearing that, Shura let off a suggestive tone and continued.

"Well, I believe that this situation is a bit personal for her, don't you agree? And, something personal warrants a bit of privacy and secrecy, correct?" was Shura's clever statement, stealing most of the words Haruhi's father could use for a comeback. But, still, being the 'father' of his daughter, he didn't let up.

"What are you going to do about it, boy? Now that I know, what can you do about it?" was her father's response.

Shura huffed. Kyon wondered what the huff was for but decided that it wasn't important.

"Well, I guess that'd mean an intrusion to privacy. And, from what I know, it's a legal crime." A pause followed until Shura continued after seeing the effects his words had to Mr. Suzumiya. "And, besides, you don't want your daughter hating you for the rest of your life, right?"

He snapped his head to his left, as if wanting to make him look at his beautiful daughter. He, of course, after a common adult response, looked to his right towards her. His 'angry' face became 'angriest' when he saw SOMETHING at them. Haruhi and Kyon wondered what it was, but it was futile.

As he looked back to Shura, his face turned almost red from anger.

"Who are you!?" he demanded. His voice scared everyone around them. Haruhi never felt so scared (nor has she'd been) in her life. Having already returned to her position beside Kyon, she tightened her embrace on him as she watched the scene unfold.

Kyon, on the other hand, wondered what her father meant by "Who are you?" surely he must've already known that he was a friend and nothing more.

"Who, me?" Shura casually returned, being back to his 'normal', mild-mannered, considerate self. "I'm just a friend of theirs; maybe more, maybe less," he said with a smile. "Though I am not anyone of deep importance, I can't help but to intrude on something I don't particularly like to witness. And, I didn't like it when I saw you ruining a perfectly great moment between your 'daughter' and my friend. Hmm?"

The statement drove her father over the edge. With a sudden, violent action, he grabbed on to Haruhi's left arm and pulled at it forcefully; hurting her in the process.

"We're going home, Haruhi!" her father shouted.

Kyon's natural reflex made him lean forward quickly so he could at least grab Haruhi's other arm. However, before he could close in on the last inch to her right arm, Haruhi counter-pulled with all her strength, barely stopping her dead in her advance. The moment after she effectively stopped her father's pull, she forcefully pulled her arm away from his crushing grip and shot at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" she finally demanded after being unceremoniously interrupted by Shura.

"_Aha! She's back!_" was the first thing that made itself audible inside Kyon's turmoil-laced mind. He wished that he could sniff some Coke to gnaw away on his brain, relieving it from everything burdening it.

Haruhi modified her question a bit so it would suit her needs.

"Why did you have to intrude on us like that!?" she demanded again. She looked at the floor and started sobbing. It worried Kyon greatly. He stood up, careful not to use Haruhi's arm as leverage, and tried to hug her, to try and ease away some of her pain. However, oblivious to her surroundings and probably by reflex, Haruhi unknowingly pushed him off.

Of course, she noticed her reaction and looked back to see who it was she pushed aside. Much to her surprise (and expectancy), the person she just cold-heartedly brushed-off was none-other than poor-old Kyon (yes, we know that already >>)!

Kyon landed hard on his back against his chair. Thank God… Haruhi, that the chair was cushioned so it didn't really hurt him physically. What hurt him was mentally; the feelings that Haruhi just simply pushed him off her when he tried to offer his embrace to comfort her. Kyon lay on the chair in the same position as he had when he fell on it, looking half-depressed and half-hurt.

"Oh, Kyon!" She lunged at him, stopping the fall with her arms before she made impact with him. "I'm sorry, Kyon! Where does it hurt?" Her hands were gently caressing his cheeks. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you… so…"

Haruhi started sobbing again.

"_The Goddess of the Universe has finally broken down,_" Kyon thought as he wiped off her tears with his thumb while assuring her that it's 'OK'. Of course, he was lying. His back hurt like hell. Her head buried on top of Kyon's chest, her sobbing became full-out crying, drenching Kyon's shirt with her tears.

"You must've raised her really well for you to have such an effect on Suzumiya-san. Is that what you want; to make your daughter cry like that?" Shura asked Mr. Suzumiya again. He didn't bother to notice that the crowd has gone silent when he said it. Then again, he didn't care about the crowd.

"I'm her father. I know what's best for her!" her father retorted. The crowd around him started booing him after he said it. But, like Shura, he ignored the reaction of the people around him. He grunted audibly and reached out to Haruhi again. He was interrupted yet again. Not by Shura, but by Haruhi herself.

She shot him with angry, teary eyes. She stood up and looked at her father in the eyes.

"Why? Why are you doing this? During my past relationships, you didn't interfere. You didn't give a damn about who I dated with. Why now? It's not fair!"

The man gritted his teeth in impatience. Raising his hand, pointing at her tensely, he stared at her with such evil it would make Satan cry.

"I am your father! You ungrateful child, how dare you speak up to me! Now, I can do whatever I want with you. You are still my daughter and you won't care if I intrude on your relationship or not!"

Kyon steadily straightened himself to stand behind Haruhi, who has now formed a fist with her hands. He placed his right hand on to Haruhi's right shoulder and sent a mental message to her, telling her to calm down. He couldn't help but wonder the scale of the Closed Space that would appear with Haruhi in such a bad mood.

Her left hand appeared and lay on top of his. She turned around to face him; her eyes, discharging water like a stream. Taking a few steps forward, she wrapped her arms around his head and rested her chin on his left shoulder; he could feel her tears starting to pass his shirt. He took it as a sign that she was going to follow her father, so he returned her embrace with his.

The crowd continued to be silent. Only some of them managed to make a few noise, limited to only either walking or silent whispers Kyon could not possibly hear.

"I'm sorry… really… for being selfish…" she said again.

Kyon tightened his hug on her, pushing her torso closer to him. Tears started leaking down his cheek as he waited for her last words that would split them apart; he didn't know how long. But, he was sure that those words would separate them for a very long time.

As for Shura, he didn't notice two drops of tears run down his face. He knew he couldn't do anything about what she would decide. He stood there, helpless and could not help. "_This is certainly not good,_" he told himself. "_Definitely NOT good._"

"… _sniff_…"

"… _sigh_…"

"I'm staying with Kyon."

"… WHAT!?"

Her father exploded in rage. He punched the table beside him with enough force to tilt it slightly to his direction, bending the steel bar in the middle of the table's underside. His head became red in frustration and blood concentration. A couple of small, stressed nerves appeared on his forehead.

Instead of flinching, Haruhi kept steadfast with her words.

"I'm staying here with Kyon until the day is over. I've made my decision and I've found my resolve. I'm not going to leave here." Her confidence took to new heights as she looked at her father eye-to-eye without a single shred of fear or doubt.

"Wow…." was the only thing that left Kyon's mouth. He couldn't think of another word that could describe what he just witnessed; just "_Wow…_"

"You heard your daughter, right?" Shura asked, interrupting Mr. Suzumiya before he could even say another word. "Now, I think it's time for you to leave. You've left enough damage as it is without taking her away."

Mr. Suzumiya averted his gaze to Shura. His stare should've made Shura step-down. But, instead, he smiled at the guy, not giving off any signs of backing-out.

"Father, I won't come with you. That's my final choice," Haruhi denied him again. "I've never obeyed anyone in my life and today won't be the start!"

"Please, Mr. Suzumiya. Leave us alone for now," Kyon accidentally blurted out. Her father's eyes trailed on to him. Being the normal guy he was, he stepped-back once. But then, he saw Haruhi's eyes; it was like her eyes gave him confidence to question the authority in front of them. Holding his chest, he put on his 'serious' face and continued talking.

"Just as my friend said, you've done enough damage as it is. _Not to mention you've just wasted my time._ Please, leave us alone… _Wow, I've never begged this much since I wanted that taffy candy on the window store._"

Now, it was three-on-one.

Their combined determination has managed to overcome his authority. Though, he wasn't the least bit happy about it, he stormed out of the restaurant, still red from the incident; but not before cursing Kyon and Shura about it. A second later, after he practically slammed the door shut (Kyon wondered how the glass was able to withstand the force), the people around them started to applaud their performance.

All three of them blushed at the same time.

VWVWVWVWVWV

"Is it okay; to deny your father like that?"

"Yeah… He deserved it for being such a jerk!"

The young couple was on the carnival. Joyous music was playing all around. The shrill shouts and screams of adults and children alike rang in their ears. It was noisy, everyone admitted. But, it was the kind of noise where one could open-up to anyone freely and do whatever they would want.

Haruhi was back to her old self at that time, pulling and dragging Kyon on to any ride she wanted. Be it roller coasters to bumper cars, which she never got tired of ravaging her car on to Kyon's own and laugh at him. All the while her face had a smile so bright, the sun would be jealous; that was what Kyon thought.

Now, at the top of their Ferris-wheel ride, they were alone for the first time in a long period.

"I can't believe that it's this dark out tonight," Haruhi said, staring at the city lights. Her head rested on her palm, seldom moving it to adjust her position on the chair. Her bottom lip lay a bit farther than her top lip. "But, I can still see my house from here…"

"What I can't believe is that Shura just ditched us right when we entered this place…" Kyon replied. He had a small smile on his face, which didn't really compliment what he just said. He was also staring at the same window Haruhi was looking through, but, not at the things outside it, but Haruhi's reflection upon it. "Not that I have any problem with it…"

"I enjoyed most of the day with you; that's what matters," she said flatly; not showing too much emotion before returning her gaze to him and smiling.

"Hey, Kyon…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I… have a favor to ask… … a pretty big one too…"

OMGOMGOMGOMG

Shura sat on a bench near the carnival, exhausted from the day.

From a distance, he saw Sarah make her way back to him. Behind her, she carried two large bin bags that had something heavy inside it.

Without a word, she threw the bags ahead of her, just in front of the bench where Shura sat on. Reaching in, she dragged-out two hooded, bloodied men – the stalkers from earlier – and dropped them soon after, only to return to her place beside him.

Shura hummed to express his inaudible surprise.

"Oh, sorry about that. Kyon-kun told me that you two bugged him, so I did him a favor. Was Sarah a bit too much for even you two to handle?"

Misaki: Aahh!

Shura: What'sa matter now?

Misaki: My head HUUUURTSSSZZZ!!

Shura: Then, why did you write this chapter instead of taking a break?

Misaki: Cuz I was SSOOOOOO BOOOOOORED!!

In case you guys were wondering; all my chapters haven't been pre-read before I posted them. So, I'm sorry if I can't keep-up with any demands! The next chapter would have a very unexpected twist!


	7. Chapter 7

Agh! My head hurt from all my time listening to crap my teachers tell me. But enough about that!

Shura: You listen to their crap since you do nothing but crap… perverted woman…

Misaki: … Would you mind saying THAT again? (Holds a whip on right hand)

Shura: …

Misaki: Thought so…

**To: Know Your Enemy: Yeah, you're right… I let one of my family read it and I was soo embarrassed! I'll try revealing more in this chapter! I'm soo sorry!**

**Chapter 07: First Decision**

"Are you sure about this?"

"Don't worry about it, Kyon. I can buy everything else I need," she said with a wink. She waved her fat wallet in front of him, giving a clue to how filthy rich she was. "And besides, I am NOT going back to that place!"

"That 'place' is still your rightful home, Haruhi."

"I ain't going back there! I never want to see that jerk again! Not until he apologizes to me." She crossed her arms and looked miserable. She was already inside Kyon's residence as they conversed with each other. "What? You don't like being with me?" she teased. Kyon didn't notice that fact the he just blushed.

"No, it's not like that," he mused. "It's just that I don't think my mom would accept such a request; even if you'd have to sleep at the couch."

They stared at each other in silence after that; eyes narrowed at each other. Then, the telephone rang.

It rang for a while without Kyon giving it a thought until his little sister jumped out from out of nowhere and ran to where the telephone was; all the while yelling at him "Kyon-kun! You're so annoying!"

"_Yes, you are too…_"

Another moment of silence before his sister once again called-out to him.

"Kyon-kun! Mama's on the telephone!"

"Hmmph…" he grumbled and made his way to his sister; giving her an annoyed blow on the top of her head. Haruhi inadvertently giggled; quickly hiding her mouth in embarrassment.

"What is it, mom?"

Silence soon followed after. As her mother spoke on the other end of the line, Kyon's face dropped every second. The two girls could only look at his face.

Reaching the limit of how shocked a person can be, Kyon's face flexed back to normal and nodded his head in slight surrender.

"I understand mom." And with that, he hung up the phone. He sighed as he made his way back to the couch; only to sit slouching hard on to the headboard.

Kyon's little sister stood like the little kid she was in front of Kyon, looking as innocent as she can possibly be. Though, she honestly wondered about what her mother had said on the other line.

"What'd she say, Kyon?" Haruhi asked. Her eyes showed all the glory of curiosity.

"She said that she's…"

"She's…?"

"… She'll be gone… for a month… on a vacation with father…"

"… what's wrong, Haruhi?"

"What else did she say?"

Kyon let out a sigh.

"She said…

- Phone Call -

Kyon: What is it, mom?

Mother on-line: Hello there, Kyon!

Kyon: _Even she's using that god-awful nickname…_

Mother on-line: I'm sorry to say but, I'll be out-of-country for a little while. Maybe for a month or so? At least for a month, dear. Your father is taking me to Australia! Can you believe it? Australia! And our anniversary is also approaching… Well, anyway. I'm not gonna be there to cook for you. I've left some money inside the cupboards so your little sister wouldn't be able to get it. It isn't enough to last you for a whole month so I'd suggest you get someone to cook for you, dear. You have many friends so I know you'll make it.

Father not-online: Dear! The plane's here!

Mother: Okay!... So, do you understand…?

Kyon: … I… understand… _I do and I damn myself for it…_

- End of Phone Call -

"That's what she said..." he said as he gave his annoying little sister another smack on the head.

"I'll get revenge," she quipped and stuck-out her tongue before running up the flight of stairs Kyon still hasn't got used to.

"Well, you're in luck, Kyon. After weeks of practice before, I could say that I can cook pretty well!"

Kyon could still remember the bento she made for him; it tasted like the farthest reaches of heaven. Somehow, the delightful taste of her cooking still lingered on his mouth, reminding him of his first gift from her.

"So, can I stay?"

Kyon felt that it would probably… no, most likely offend her if he declined. He looked up at his roof to ask it if he should let her stay, but, he surprisingly it didn't answer him back (?)

Now, a question still remained…

Who… will sleep on the couch?

VWVWVWVWVWVWV

Elsewhere…

"What do you think?" a voice asked from nowhere.

A muscular man stood amidst scorching flames. Blood stained his shirt as a large slash wound on his chest spat out blood like there was no tomorrow. Laughing, he wiped off a drop of blood from his chin.

"Your friend there's really good, boy!"

Two other figures around the inferno appeared in front of him. They were near indistinguishable due to the black smoke and bright golden flames around them.

"Well, we have our moments…"

"What do you want from me now?"

"Ha ha! Right to the point, I see. Well, I want you to…"

VWVWVWVWVWVWV

Kyon regained consciousness due to some pain on his back. He slept on the couch instead of Haruhi due to an earlier argument. By Kyon's insistence, he made Haruhi sleep on his bed instead. He made various reasons as to why she should take his bed; reasons that were all made-up. He didn't know why, he just didn't want her to sleep on something as insignificant as a couch,

Turning around and throwing his arm in front of him, he caught hold of something. He fumbled with it for a second or two.

"_So soft…_" he thought.

Moving down a little more, he caught another one of its kind and fumbled with it too.

"_So… warm…_"

A question raced through his mind suddenly; how was he able to turn around? He certainly did and, if he WAS sleeping at the couch like he was supposed to, he should've fell. He opened his eyes a bit, still heavy from sleep.

"_Brown… hair…?_"

It came to him… … it was Haruhi. He notified himself loudly mentally. His eyes widened in shock and surprise. He also realized that he was also in his bed... THEY, were in his bed. He also realized that the soft… warm… mound of flesh he was holding onto was her…

"Early morning and you're all romped-up huh?"

He gulped a mouthful of saliva… delicious, he thought.

With a quick motion he pulled his hand out of her… um… cleavage, careful not to hurt… it, in the process and rushed back as far as he could, but the wall prevented further retreat.

"I-I can explain! Or… wait… YOU explain why I'm here in bed! I'm supposed to be sleeping at the couch!"

She laughed out loud and stopped as soon as she did.

"Well, I carried you up here when you were fast asleep. You're surprisingly light for a man, Kyon!" After which she continued laughing.

Thinking that it was just her making fun out of him again, he dropped his guard to straighten his position on the bed. Just as he did, Haruhi lunged forward a pinned him to the wall. With the most seductive voice she could produce she asked: "Do you know why I carried you here?" Her face was mere centimeters from his. If Kyon were to look down, which he did, he could get a nice view of her cleavage. It dawned onto him. She was only wearing a button-down shirt and underwear; not only that, only two buttons were actually in place! His face warmed-up. He had never seen so much of her skin.

Then, it got worse. His sister barged-in to his room like she always did.

"Kyon-kun! Time to wake…"

She paused just as the whole world did.

"_Maybe it's time I started locking my door…_"

VWVWVWVWVWV

Kyon slouched on to the couch and watched the early morning NEWS. He could smell the aroma Haruhi's cooking produced. It smelled sweet.

It has already been a day since Haruhi started living with them; and a day since they had been eating her home-made food. It was nice. Kyon thought he could go on like this forever, not that he wouldn't like his mother coming back. Point of the matter was, he could really get used to having her around, despite her arrogance and usual eccentric outbursts.

But now, they, or at least he, had another problem at his hand.

He was sure that that smug bastard Koizumi would be aware of the situation and give him his really annoying remarks. The way he smiled and laughed was at the top of his list why he found him annoying; and his remarks are at second.

He suddenly found the urge to dance. He didn't know why, but he just did. Though, he ignored it… for the time being.

"Kyon! Get your lazy ass going! We're gonna be late!" she yelled from the doorpost. He hurried to the door and found her smiling with one hand on her waist. She handed him a cloth-wrapped bento and opened the door. He stopped her half-way.

"Hey, Haruhi…"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I really appreciate you cooking for me and my little sister… but…"

"… But…?"

"Where's your lunch?"

Haruhi's face contorted in shock. Squealing, she ran back to the kitchen, dropping her bag beside the door.

After uttering a few brief apologies, they made their way to school.

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As they walked to school, they noticed a myriad of police cars run about to the same direction. Kyon got a bad feeling about something, but he wasn't sure what. He glanced at Haruhi. She was silent.

"Haruhi, isn't that where your house is?" Kyon asked. Though, he couldn't remember where he got that information, he knew that that wasn't the case.

"Yeah… you're right…" she answered flatly and then walked to the opposite direction.

He felt his eyebrow twitch.

Just then, Taniguchi appeared to bring them shocking news.

"Suzumiya! Your house just burned-down!"

Kyon gasped and shot a look at Haruhi. She wasn't the least bit affected at all! He deftly walked to her and placed both his hands on her shoulders. They felt cold to his touch. Well, it's not practically called 'giving the cold shoulder' but, it works.

"Haruhi…?"

"What?"

"Your house just burned-down… don't you care?"

She refrained from answering for a brief second 'til she answered while still not facing him. Her answer was fairly simple yet, persuading.

"I don't care…"

Kyon lectured himself that he should've already been used to those kinds of responses from her. And he was; he was just a bit shocked by what she just said.

"You… don't care…?" he asked, enunciating every word sharper than he did.

She faced him; her eyes looked like Nagato's own: cold like liquid helium. She repeated her words; this time, with more accent.

Kyon understood how she felt. He did though, he never had experienced it. So he guessed that his understanding must've only been connected with compassion. However, he was still too curious as to what it now looked like; maybe he'll get an idea of what her house looked like from the ashes that remained.

"Okay, Haruhi. You can go ahead. I'll check-out your house."

He turned his back on her and started walking on the opposite direction. The sly bastard Taniguchi had no or slightly a little idea as to what was going on between them. Driven by curiosity, Taniguchi went with Kyon.

Haruhi reluctantly followed behind them, paying no heed to Taniguchi's occasional glimpses. Though she'd much rather push him out of her way.

Arriving where the police cars gathered, they saw her house… or at least what remained of it. The once should-be nicely painted walls were reduced to be covered in soot. What was left of the wooden furniture were already removed and piled beside the disaster of a house. Glass pieces were scattered on the ground around the windows from where they came. Pretty much everything that can be burned inside the house disappeared, leaving only the concrete to be covered in a thick layer of soot and ashes.

The police surprisingly let them enter the ruin without any further ado. Though, they did have to question Haruhi due to the fact that she was one of the house's residents. It left only Kyon and Taniguchi to look around inside of the burned-out house.

"Well, Kyon, I have to go. Ciao!"

Make that only Kyon to look around the burned-out house.

Everything inside the house being burnt to a crisp, there wasn't much to see except black soot and gray ash everywhere. To the kitchen, though, he may have found the source of the fire; a gas tank that looked like it burst open and a candle beside it. Kyon could only imagine that, somehow, the gas tank was leaking and the fumes made contact with the candle, causing a very nice explosion that set the house on fire. However, there was one thing that stopped the situation to become the likely scenario. The candle looked brand-new as it was inside a brass container. Only one of its sides melted due to the heat. Disregarding that, it looked like the candle hasn't been used too. He stared at it like it was a complicated puzzle he was dared to solve.

Something caught his eye; a room was sealed with yellow ribbons. Must be something they didn't want the people to see, was the thought that came to his mind. He honestly scared himself when he thought that there were bodies inside, burned to a crisp. He didn't want to believe that, so, he made his way inside.

He reached the door, only to find it lead downstairs – a basement. Fear struck him, afraid of what he was going to see. However, it only made him more curious as to what could make him feel so scared. One step at a time, he slowly made his way to the room below.

He was thankful that the police had already placed a lighting system inside the room when he saw light ahead… below.

At first, he tried to cover his eyes as the bright light from the headlights was too much. He had to get his eyes to adjust to them. He found it a difficulty doing so. But, being the pursuer he was, forced the adjustment and opened his eyes.

What he saw he swore almost made him drop his jaw to the ground.

Have you ever seen a slash-mark; like when a sword goes through cloth or when you use your nails to scratch your skin and it leaves a mark? Well, that was what he saw, only, the marks, he swore, were bigger and longer than a giraffe's neck. It covered every inch of the wall, even the small amount of furniture to the floor he was standing-on. None was spared by whoever's wrath.

That wasn't the only thing that scared him. Among the slash marks on the walls came blood; lots of it; splattered around him, covering most of the wall across him.

"Kyon?"

A hand found its way onto his shoulder. He almost screamed like a little girl.

He immediately recognized the voice – it was Haruhi – and quickly turned-around and covered her eyes to prevent her from seeing the things he did.

"Ah! Kyon!? What are you doing!?" she whined while thrashing her arms around her.

"Ehm… uh…" he mumbled, trying to think of an answer that could sway her.

"We're gonna be late, Haruhi. We don't want that, do you?"

She calmed down instantly, still having her eyes covered.

"Oh, yeah…. Well, let's get moving!" she quipped, placing her hands on her waist.

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They continued their little trip to school as some of the male students that passed Kyon gave him complimentary slaps to his back. He was sure that it was because Haruhi was with him…

He thought he'd have a trip to the clinic before class even started with a sore bulge on his back like the guy on an anime series he'd just watched. Though, he wasn't thinking of the next part where three girls gang-up on his back with towels.

"Well, hello there!" a very familiar voice called-up to him.

Looking-back, they immediately recognized the boy and girl trailing behind them.

"It's you guys again… yippee…"

"What's the matter, Kyon-kun? I hope you're not angry when I left you when we got to the carnival."

Kyon still thought he was normal. But he was finding him to be annoyingly like Koizumi, especially his smile and smug-ass remarks.

"You ditched me, that's what you did."

"Ditched' is too strong of a word, don't you think?" he said as he placed an arm around his neck. He also found his actions to be very annoying, especially what he just did. No, not because of the awkwardness of it all… it was because the things he did made Sarah… a bit moody…

He turned his head slightly, just enough to catch a glimpse of her. She had one of those 'looks that can kill'.

"_Okay… maybe a bit TOO moody…_"

They reached the hill Kyon still hasn't gotten used to. He wondered why. He was so sure that, after months or so after studying at this school, he'd have gotten used to it. One time, he thought he did but, found-out that he was wrong. It was only so because he longed to be inside the clubroom for once in the middle of the rain.

Then, they heard the bell ring.

"Crap! Kyon, we have to run, NOW!"

She grabbed his collar and made a rag-doll out of him, pulling at him without care. She had a wide smile on her face as she did so.

"Kyon…"

"What is it, Haruhi?"

"No one has to know that I'm staying at your place, got me!?"

Haruhi suddenly released his uniform. Kyon hit hard on the concrete sidewalk. He expected his head to splatter but, fortunately, it didn't. But, still, it hurt.

"Kyon…"

"What is it now?"

She paused…

"We're late…"

Kyon looked back to see what she was seeing… and saw Mr. Okabe menacingly looking at them while blankly slapping a ruler on his left hand.

"_We're dead…_"

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Surprisingly, Mr. Okabe's only punishment for them is… a ten-page report on their lesson about cultures. Doesn't seem much to us (the readers) but to Kyon, who was a square student all-around, it was a hell of a lot of work.

He went on his merry way to the clubroom, hoping that Nagato would help him if he asked. Sure enough, Mr. Okabe also specified that the internet was off-limits. For their report, they had to interview someone who was good at traveling and ask them etc. etc. He had heard that Haruhi had gone-off and was already interviewing a girl who had supposedly traveled the world with her talking motorrad. He tried to remember the traveler's name. "_Was it… 'Kino'?_" he thought.

Anyway, arriving at the clubroom, he saw a bandaged Koizumi sitting at his usual place; Nagato was nowhere in sight. Sitting across him, he finally saw the full extent of his injuries.

"Koizumi… what happened to you?"

He looked-up at him and laughed, which he finished with a sigh.

"A really big Closed Space appeared this Saturday…"

Kyon remembered their battle with Haruhi's father. It was most likely that it was the reason. Though, he'd much rather avoid the topic, afraid that he'd hear more of his enlightening lectures.

Now, his lectures whenever he'd do something wrong was no. 3 on his 'Why I Find Koizumi Really Annoying' list. Still, he found them very… deep… not that he cared.

"Is that so?" he just made-up a comeback of his own.

He answered after placing his hand over Kyon's.

"I want to tell you something, Kyon-kun."

He flinched just as their hands made contact. He was thankful to the fact that Haruhi wasn't here or she'll become quite a handful.

"Don't touch me and go ahead, tell me."

He giggled… very annoying indeed.

"We've… no… the Agency has decided to… kill Asuka Shura…"

Noo!! My character's gonna be killed! And WTF does Haruhi's father have to do with all THIS!! Chapter 08, coming-up!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Whether or not you think so, no, I still do not own TMHS. If you think so, then you're screwed.

Shura: Who wouldn't be screwed after drinking four bottles of beer in one sitting?

Misaki: Shura, my dear… there are some things better kept a secret… Whipcrack

Shura: Agh!

**Chapter 08: First Unveiling**

Kyon ate his lunch Haruhi made herself together with… well… her. They enjoyed a very animated conversation with each other inside the classroom. Kyon could feel everybody's stares locked on to them. The most annoying of them all was Taniguchi's, who was doing this hand gesture of 'bravo'; clamping his hands together and shaking them beside his head.

Every bite of Kyon's lunch now tasted like heaven's end. He loved it; though, it would have been rude if he were to just pick-up the pace and started devouring them all like some kind of peasant. And, from past experiences, Kyon has learned that Haruhi absolutely HATED peasants; especially if they come at you palms-open begging for food or money. The last time one of them had the guts to approach her; he ended up with a sore bulge on his cheek. Kyon chuckled lightly at what he remembered.

"Hey, Kyon?"

Struggling to break-out of heaven's food palace, he averted his eyes from Haruhi's piece-of-art to her gleaming eyes.

"What is it, Haruhi?"

She smiled from ear-to-ear. It was familiar; that smile. Whenever she had one of those smiles, she would usually have a plan; usually involving Asahina in a rather sultry costume.

"Want to go to another date?"

So much for an Asahina costume parody…

A normal guy would choke on whatever content is on his throat after hearing such a thing from out of the blue. But, as for Kyon, he couldn't really consider himself as normal for keeping his sanity through all of what he has gone through. Poor Asahina; she almost lost it when they came across the giant cave cricket.

-End flashback-

"_That's pretty much how I ended-up here…_"

Haruhi practically bought everything via window-shopping as she blazed through every display there was. But at least it was good for Kyon's wallet.

Looking around, he saw Koizumi at a distance, talking to someone with a left arm handicap, just like his, making strange hand gestures and point. He felt like the stalker incident on his last date with Haruhi; but at least it's not as peculiar as a hooded guy following the basic principles of stalking. At least that gave him peace of mind.

"Hey, Kyon! Over here, look!" came a shouting Haruhi Suzumiya. She was pointing vigorously at something on a display window.

Taking a few steps forward before stopping, Kyon scanned his surroundings again, searching for something. Finding that something not anywhere he can see, he walked as normal as possible to look at what Haruhi was pointing at.

It was a large alien stuffed-toy…

"You're still into that, Haruhi?"

She averted her gaze to Kyon with her big, puppy-dog eyes. To be honest, Kyon thought it suited her. She looked even cuter that way.

"Of course I'm still interested in that! I'd give anything to have a paranormal experience at least one in my life…"

Her voice faded to a blush on her cheeks. Kyon didn't know what the blush was for so he ignored it for the time being.

Voice trailing, he asked if she wanted the toy. That did the trick; it lit-up her expression to be grateful. He inadvertently smiled at her, which he caught up on and turned-around to slap the blush away from coming to his face. Indeed, she looked cute with an angelic smile.

"Kyon, what's wrong? Feeling dizzy?" she asked him.

She had changed a lot ever since she came to live with Kyon… They even shared his bed for God's sake! But besides that, she became a bit more… considerate to others if that's close enough.

Before he knew it, Haruhi was already inside the store. Above his head, it read 'Paranormal Merchandise'. No wonder it had such a peculiar item on its display. On his entrance to the store, he spotted more weird and unusual items on stock. It was like it was there especially for her. There were even Martian sodas on the shelves…

"Welcome to the Paranormal Merchandise store!"

There was a spunky-looking girl by the entrance wearing a very… revealing neko fukusou (cat costume; tell me if I'm wrong). She ran up to Kyon's right side and dragged him to the stocks.

"Here we have a stock of limited edition Spooky Kro keychains and peripherals… …"

It didn't even spark an atom of interest from Kyon. All he thought that only Haruhi would be interested in such things. Looking to his right, towards her, he realized that she wasn't at all interested at the objects at the shelf. She simply stood there, arms crossed, feet tapping and eyes gazing at Kyon. She looked angry…

Finally, after a few seconds of endurance, she broke her fuse. Stomping towards the indecently clothed salesgirl, she grabbed her hand and pulled it away.

"Get away from him!" she yelped as she fervently pulled on the girl's hand. But the girl was persistent as she was arrogant like Haruhi was, so she kept her grip on Kyon's arm.

"I said get away from my Kyon!"

Something snapped in his head. "_Did she just say 'my Kyon'?_"

Kyon just found himself between two girls pulling for his attention. It continued like that for about a minute before the door opened for another customer. Fortunately for Kyon, the salesgirl quickly shifted her attention to the new set of customers before she, together with Haruhi, could pull his arms off their sockets.

"Welcome to the Paranormal Merchandise store!" he heard her say.

Haruhi pulled on his shoulder, forcing him to sink a bit to level his ear to her mouth.

"Kyon, we're outta here…" and with that, she dragged him out of the door.

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"Why? For what reason?"

Koizumi ran his hand through his hair. He winced a bit in pain when he accidentally made contact with a wound on his forehead.

"I don't really know why. Actually, it was the higher-ups who have decided this. They never gave us their reason."

"So you'd follow anything they'd you to?"

"Basically, yes. But in my case, I won't follow any orders that would mean hurting either of you. I've grown to be quite fond of this club, Kyon-kun; and I won't let anyone harm either of you, Nagato-san or Asahina-san."

"_I feel safer already…_"

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"I can't believe that girl; putting her hands on you like that!..."

"Umm… Haruhi… everyone's looking at us…"

Every living being practically had all their eyes on them as Haruhi continued to rage on herself as they walked through a business district. No matter how anyone would look at it, it seemed a bad way to start a date.

"I don't care even if the whole world would see me! How dare that woman seduce you! She even pulled you arm to her b…b…breast…! And what's with her outfit!!"

Realizing that it was impossible to snap her out of her rampage through mere swaying, Kyon decided another, more daring move. He just hoped that it wouldn't come back to haunt him.

"Are you jealous by any chance?"

Upon hearing this, Haruhi stopped dead as her face quickly turned red; her mouth shut tight.

After stumbling over her own words, she barely managed to answer him back.

"Y… yeah… I am… I think…"

Now that was a surprise. Kyon thought she'd answer with a no. He struggled to keep his jaw from falling to the sidewalk.

"_Eh, Haruhi? What was that again?_"

"Yeah, I am jealous of her… now that I think about it…"

She turned her head a little to her left so she can at least see his foot. That was enough for her but; Kyon couldn't even see her narrowed eyes. At times like that, normal Haruhi would simply shrug it off as nothing and continue whatever harassment she was already doing. This moment actually proved that she HAS changed over the course of her stay.

"_Okay… this is the part where he…_"

… A second later…

"So, we meet again, Suzumiya-san, Kyon-kun…"

"… _would appear…_"

The couple looked-back to where the familiar voice came from. What they found was something rather disturbing. It was Shura and Sarah alright but, it looked like their fashion sense reversed. Shura now looked like a typical traveler with a green vest and cargo pants with matching boots. And Sarah looked like she was going for the military look with a tight black tank top that barely held her C-cup breasts… not that Kyon knew what her measurement was anyway, and military pants (camouflage?) with matching boots and large belt and a large sliver buckle to go with it.

Kyon scanned the background again to find Koizumi at a distance fairly far away from them, talking with the same guy minutes ago.

"Your clothes seem… different…"

Shura smiled at him indifferently. He squirmed at Sarah's grip on his left arm and extended his right hand, possibly for a handshake.

"What a coincidence to meet you two again out here…"

Kyon took his hand with a competitive look on his face. He gripped it tightly, ignoring the oozing evil coming out of Sarah's stare. In return, Shura replied with gripping his hand as tight as Kyon did. They looked like two rivals from another person's point of view.

"I don't believe in coincidences," was Kyon's abrupt reply.

"Yes, you're right. There are no coincidences in this world; only inevitability."

Now where did Kyon hear that before?

"Now, I'd presume you two are on a date again?"

That was the start of a lengthy conversation between them. Kyon knowingly became the pathfinder of the group, leading them to a small restaurant. At least that way he could feel a bit more secure than in a larger, more crowded one.

Haruhi wasn't particularly angry at the scale of the restaurant they went into; she was just a bit disappointed as that restaurant was as normal as they came. Sarah didn't give a damn at all while Shura was admiring the simplicity of the place. To Kyon, well, it was small and peaceful; that was all there was to it.

"Kyon… this restaurant is… puny…"

"_Exactly, Haruhi-sama. It's little! If someone you know enters this place, it'll only take a fraction of a second for us to notice that person!_"

"It's not puny at all, Suzumiya-san. It's just perfect! The simplicity… The security… ah…"

Shura was in his own world, caressing the crudely made table gently and admiring the dim lamp that was suspended above them. And as for Haruhi, well… she's faring with it for the time being. At least that was what it looked like when she was sitting cross-legged and arms crossed under her… chest; lips pouting.

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"I don't like your plan one bit… it's too much of a risk for Haruhi."

"I don't like my plan either; with our target, its chance of success is only two to a thousand and three. But we are willing to take any chances present out of desperation."

"So, you espers are really into this objective, huh?"

"Do you think I'd be into something like this, Kyon-kun?"

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Out of nowhere, just as Haruhi had taken her first bite on her cheap riceball, the world around them shot grey. Everyone else disappeared, leaving only Haruhi, Kyon, Shura and Sarah themselves. Of course, being the Goddess of the Universe, Haruhi picked-up what just happened them moment it did.

"Kyon, this is the same as before… What's happening?"

She retreated to Kyon's side across her, trembling in fear. Kyon expected her to be more excited about what just happened but, it seems he thought wrong. Across him, Shura didn't look as if he had noticed anything happening. He was still at his PDA, playing chess. And from the looks of it, he was winning.

Kyon didn't notice someone entering the room until Haruhi mentioned the person… by name.

"Koizumi…kun…?"

Koizumi stood in front of the door with two other men; both of those men had blonde hair. The man in the middle had a persuader pointed at Shura's head; but his index finger wasn't at the trigger just yet. The weird thing was that, all three of them had a handicap on their left arm.

"Asuka Shura, your actions have greatly alerted us. You have disabled the left arm of every esper there is on this planet. We do not know what your intentions are but, this has gone too far."

Kyon peeked at Shura; he was still playing with his PDA, seemingly oblivious of everything around him. The same goes for Sarah, eyes closed looking content as she held on to his arm.

"Shura-kun, please, I want to get this over with as cleanly as possible," Koizumi said, trying to shift his attention away from his PDA. Kyon somewhat understood what Shura was thinking… chess can really be an addicting game.

There was still no response from him except his tongue sticking-out of his mouth, increasing his concentration on the game.

Kyon, on the other hand, was wondering if one of those Celestials would appear. This IS a closed space, after all. Pressure welled-up from inside his body as he thought about it.

"If you will keep silent, then I will take that as a sign to shoot you," the gruff man declared again. Tense silence enveloped the surroundings before Shura finally spoke. All the while, Haruhi was feeling rather… sleepy.

"Shooting me doesn't that I'm gonna die. Be my guest, shoot me; just not on my face."

Apparently, he cared more for his annoyingly handsome face than his extravagant life, was what Kyon thought. Not known to him, that was also what was on the mind of everyone else. The only thing that made him not presume that everybody was thinking the same was that he thought he was the only one cynical around there.

Kyon felt Haruhi go limp on his arms. He looked at her eyes and noticed that she was already struggling to lift her apparently heavy eyelids. Why? Why indeed?

Another punishing silence took over as both sides found the urge to remain dormant until Shura exclaimed another well-known term in the game.

"Checkmate!"

The stiff man holding the gun suddenly collapsed with a sore lump on the back of his head. Everyone was stunned, except for Haruhi, who was now peacefully snoring in Kyon's arms.

As quickly as you could say 'Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniosis', which is, by the way, the longest word there is, Koizumi and the other esper had ran-off the door. Still stunned, Kyon looked at Shura, who stood-up proudly and gave the thumbs-up sign to him.

"Don't worry, Kyon-kun. I won't let anything harm Suzumiya-san or you…"

Intro to the pretty uneventful battle that's about to come. If I may say so myself, I don't like this chapter that much since I originally planned this chapter to be exclusively HaruhixKyon focused. Well, anywhoo, I don't care. I just write-down whatever comes to my mind anyway. I DON'T think things over.

Shura: What else is new?

Misaki: You're cruising for a bruising, my boy…


	9. Chapter 9

Well, this is it… the big scene…

I'll spare the disclaimer and other stuff down at the end of this pretty short chapter.

Without further ado, here does my first one-sided fighting scene. (Chapter name suits it, don't you think?)

**Chapter 09: First Fight(s)**

Central Park; a place where couples would usually go and enjoy their afternoon; a place where early morning joggers try to increase their stamina; a place where children can play all day without worrying about their parents, except when it's time to eat. Central Park is a place where memories may be born.

"_But not this kind of memory…_"

Kyon was at the top of a two-storey building with a magical barrier surrounding him. Haruhi was safely in his arms sleeping soundly. He was told that she was put to sleep as to not witness what was going to unfold. Sure enough, Shura and Sarah were there, standing in the middle of the park together with about a hundred espers surrounding them. It seemed an impossible task to defeat them all.

"Maybe this will work."

Koizumi gritted his teeth and held his breath. It was a long and agonizing wait. Kyon watched for any signs of the start of a battle; they had something else planned. Instead of the espers attacking all at once, instead, they cast a barrier similar to the one that was surrounding the area Kyon was in. From the looks of it, it was tad stronger than his. It led him to be baffled by what was going to happen next.

Koizumi started speaking…

"Kyon-kun… if I die, then, tell Suzumiya-san that I enjoyed myself." And with that, without even sparing Kyon a second look and response, he jumped right into the field. Kyon tried his darnest to figure-out the situation without thinking of the obvious.

He was going to face them alone.

He could only watch as, apparently, even sound couldn't pass through the barrier, stunned and rendered helpless. That time, he wished that he could be anything but a normal human and be a part of this strange event, not be some guy on the sidelines.

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Landing firmly with his feet, Koizumi took a deep breath before setting his sight on to his targets. He was slightly annoyed by the fact that Shura was sending a message in the middle of his predicament. But he composed himself, telling himself that acting-up might cost him his life. He lowered himself to a normal fighting stance.

Shura smiled, not sadistically, but tenderly and waved his hand for a quick 'hello'.

"Just as I thought; the espers would send you in here with me."

Koizumi left his stance and slightly tilted his head to the right. As it clearly dictates, he was wondering what Shura meant with his words.

"What do you mean, Shura-kun?" he asked curiously. Shura chuckled by his sudden change. Reaching inside his pocket, he got a foreign coin and held it in his hand.

"You'll find-out soon, Koizumi-kun." He tossed the coin into the air and caught it as it fell. It showed a head. "But, I need to make it look as real as possible." He threw the coin at Koizumi. He reached-out his hand to catch it; only missing by a few millimeters as he barely dodged a swipe from Sarah's nail… er… claws; a few strands of his brown hair flew by.

"What the hell!?" he managed to let out. Getting to his feet, he quickly got on a fighting stance again; his eyes focused on his attacker. "That wasn't nice."

As he said the last word on his sentence, he again dodged one of her right-hand slashes by mere inches away from his head. He managed to see a left backhand coming and blocked it. To his surprise, it was a feint. He got hit by a right-foot roundhouse squarely on his face. It sent him reeling to the ground.

He stood-up. He thought of hurling a fireball of decent size towards her, hoping to at least graze her. He did not have the time, however as she quickly lunged at him with her claws. He dodged it again, now knowing full well of her follow-ups and instead, jumped away. She hit a wooden bench and that bench met its demise.

He tried making the first move as she recovered from the graciously deadly impact with a punch. He hid a surprise that goes; if she'd dodge it, she'd be hit with an energy orb lying behind his fist. His guess that she'd dodge it was wrong. Instead, she caught his right hand with her left and made a sweep on his feet and, using the same momentum from her sweep, dropped an elbow on his chest.

Out of simple thought, he used the energy ball from earlier and hit her rib cage. The mere impact sent her rolling away on the ground.

He stood-up a moment after that and, much to his horror, Sarah was up too; with not a single wound nor bruise on her side.

He flew-up into the air encased inside a blue electric ball, thinking that it would buy him some time to cast something at her. He could only depend on ranged attacks as, from what he just experienced; their fighting skills had a large gap between them. Raising his palm, he conjured a fireball and prepared himself to throw it at her. Just then, she suddenly appeared in front of him and punched him in the face; his cheek right cheek to be more precise. Flinching was his mistake whereas she followed her punch with a heel drop to his head that sent him freefalling to the ground where he landed with an audible thud.

He tried to stand-up, only to cringe in pain from his left arm and forehead injuries. He was able to get back on his feet, only to fall down to the ground again. Blood dripped from his forehead to his eyes, reddening his vision a little.

Then, he felt the full effects of all two kicks that connected to his head; he started feeling light-headed and his skull hurt like hell.

"Why'd they send you in here, Koizumi-kun?"

Shura's sudden question brought him back to his senses.

"If they had brains, they'd send all of you espers here with me to die."

"What do you mean?"

Using a nearby post for leverage, he managed to struggle back to his feet. However, his vision was now fluttering around. His head feels like it's going to explode any second. Sarah was now beside Shura again.

"Does our fight look real to you, Koizumi-kun?" he asked while still wearing his usual smile.

"Of cou—"

As he started his answer, again he was interrupted by one of her attacks. But his head hurt too much to think straight, making him forget about her follow-ups. A spinning heel kick was planted on his stomach. By the impact, he was thrown to the far end of the park until he hit a tree. His coughed-up blood splattered on the soil and the wound on his head opened-up even more, releasing more blood. He started to feel weak from all the blood he lost.

"_This is definitely NOT good…_"

"Hey! Koizumi-kun! How many espers are holding this barrier up; minus the one I knocked-out?"

Koizumi didn't answer him, determined not to be distracted again nor to help him understand anything. That was what he thought. He tried to straighten-up his stance to prepare for any incoming attacks.

"Koizumi-kun! Did the barrier just weaken a bit, or is it my imagination?"

He realized that he was trying to make a point with him. He tried to use the last of his remaining energy to feel around him; indeed, the barrier did weaken a little bit.

His eyes snapped-open as he realized what was happening. He hesitated for a few brief moments before taking up all the courage left in him and turning his head to face Kyon's refuge.

"It can't be…"

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Kyon felt his stomach churn as he watched Koizumi get repeatedly beaten-up, especially by seeing his blood spill on the ground. While watching, he reflected on whatever moments may have leaded them to this moment.

"_Haruhi wouldn't want this, would she?_"

He looked down on her angelic sleeping face. He couldn't help but to admire her sleeping face; it looked so innocent, unlike her true nature.

"_She couldn't have wanted this, no way…_"

He watched the battle again, just on time to spot Koizumi slam unto a tree. It was like the pain he felt reached Kyon and made him close his eyes, afraid to see him suffer even more. He found refuge in Haruhi's presence and decided to caress her face with utmost care. If she woke-up in the middle of all this, she'd have probably made a Closed-Space the size of Russia due to the pain; at least that was what Kyon thought.

He heard a click beside his head. It was familiar; he could've sworn that he heard it before.

Then he saw a wide-eyed Koizumi look at him. It felt weird. Kyon wished that he'd not look at him like that. It made him feel really uneasy with himself. Then he saw him wave his hand. Kyon thought he was saying hi. Why would he be greeting him in the middle of an epic battle? Then his gesture changed to a finger running through his neck. Cut his neck? What the hell was he going on about?

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"Kyon get out of there!!"

"It's no use, Koizumi-kun. There's no way he can hear you," Shura said as he picked his teeth clean with a toothpick he produced from his wallet.

"You mean to say to just sit here and watch him die!?"

Shura chuckled.

"I didn't say that, did I? I promised him that they won't get hurt and I'm not willing to break that promise."

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Kyon shook Haruhi to wake her up but to no avail. She slept like a log. He had no urge to shout at her; and hurting her might cost him his head.

He sighed. He felt like the world around him stopped dead in its tracks. He tried to reach Haruhi's forehead to tuck-away some of her brown locks of hair away from her face.

He wasn't just feeling it. His whole world DID stop. As he thought so, he found-out that he couldn't move a muscle; hopefully his heart was still functioning. Not one of his limbs seemed to work. He didn't go numb or anything as he still felt Haruhi's warmth on his leg. He couldn't even blink; but at least his eyes weren't complaining.

It didn't feel like the time when Ryoko Asakura tried to kill him. That time, even if he wanted to, he couldn't move a finger. But, this time, it felt like his brain was denying any attempt of his body to move. It was like mind control.

He heard footsteps coming. He couldn't turn his head nor use his eyes to see who it was.

He found-out that he could at least still use his mouth to speak.

"Who are you?" Kyon demanded. Silence followed soon after before he heard his mystery-man respond to his question.

"By orders of the Agency, I have been tasked to kill you, Kyon."

He was in deep trouble; not because of the fact that even the other espers refer to him by that God-forsaken name; was he really going to just die there? He wanted to ask him why but realized that his mouth had also been sealed. He couldn't even mumble. Now he was totally paralyzed; a sitting duck, waiting to be killed.

Then he remembered where he heard the click from before. It was from a folding knife from a street market just down that particular street the park was in. How about it? He just realized where it came from in such a situation.

"_Guess that's the power of desperation…_"

"I'll make it quick and painless…"

Kyon felt the man raise the knife over his head, ready for an overhead strike. He braced himself for the pain that was about to come. He felt his brain go dead on him. The last thing he thought was…

"_Haruhi, I'm sorry…_"

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Shura was having trouble picking a sliver between his molar and canine. In frustration, he ended-up using his hand instead of the toothpick, which broke during his conquest. Koizumi looked at him, battered and bruised while sitting beneath the tree.

Shura paused.

"They're here."

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A sound like metal clashing with metal echoed through the air. Kyon could finally close his eyes, which he did so, thinking that he was still going to get killed. He didn't realize that he was now able to move his body again.

As his imagination flew to the point where he actually thought he was already stabbed, he let-out a yelp. The yelp brought him back to reality and made him realize that he wasn't stabbed… yet. He held-out his hand in front of him and made a knuckle.

"I can move now…"

He wondered why he wasn't dead yet. Well, it wasn't really a wonder to him. His situation that time was like an exact replication of his experience within Ryoko Asakura's environmental data supervision. So, he expected to see Nagato to be holding the knife at bay with bloody hands… Did Nagato have green hair?

"Long time no see, Kyon-kun."

Apparently, the whole world was used with that nickname of his…

"K…Kimidori-san? What are you doing here?"

To be honest with himself, who Kyon was really good at, he was actually surprised that someone else other than Nagato could enter the fray. And, of all people, it was Kimidori Emiri. Kyon had already thought that she might be one of Nagato's kind but, he never really gave it much importance. To think that she could just appear…

"Kimidori-san, are you…"

"A Human-Purpose Interface?" she finished. Her hands were dripping with blood as she leveled the knife lower. "Yes, I am."

Kyon was stunned. He almost missed the next familiar voice right beside his ear.

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other, right, Kyon-kun?"

"Asakura-san!?"

Again, he was lost for words.

"Oh, goody! You remembered my name! I'm so happy!" She faced away from him and looked at the circle of espers surrounding the park. "My master has decided that the elimination of the espers' leader would be at a higher priority than your death. Lucky you, you now have our support."

"Why are you here now? Didn't Nagato finish you off that time?" Kyon remembered her disintegration when those two aliens fought. Asakura's cold blue eyes looked at him like they were blazing cerulean flames.

"I am not in a position to tell you right now, Kyon-kun. Maybe when things get a little calmer," she replied and winked at him, sending shivers down his spine. It would seem that, no matter how much she wanted to look cute in front of him, his past experience made her seem cold.

"Look there, Kyon-kun. Yuki-chan has just arrived…"

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"I told you they'd be okay."

Koizumi was truly amazed.

"How did you get them to help you?"

Shura finally gave-up on the sliver stuck between his teeth. With a sigh, he looked-up and saw Nagato land on top of the barrier. He gave her a nod and the barrier started crumbling.

"I'll answer all your questions once I scare the hell out of your esper friends…"

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Misaki: I did it! Two OMGWTF stones!!

Shura: You're playing THAT game again!?

Misaki; I never get tired of those pictures!


	10. Chapter 10

Well, I think I'm getting the hang of it by now. But, I think I have to cut it out with those 18+ rated games I've been playing lately… they're starting to influence my writing… Let's get on with this!

I'm actually gonna explain less things about my story than I actually intend to! However, some questions are best left unanswered… some mysteries make a story even more exciting, don't you agree?

And also, this story is nearing completion. If I'm not mistaking, it should be over in about five more chapters or so…

**A/N: I haven't read anything in my story alert list in a while…**

**Chapter 10: First Incident**

"I guess this isn't like some kind of TV series where we're given breaks every now and then…"

"Hmm? Did you say something, Kyon-kun?"

Kyon and the others have taken refuge in a run-down building they had just coincidentally come across. From the looks of it, the building was once a hotel. At least a couple of rooms still had lightings that worked where they laid Haruhi to rest at one of the still usable bed. The sky was still grey; to ask if they were still in Closed Space would be very stupid indeed.

"It's nothing…"

Only Emiri was left to guard Haruhi while the others rested their weary bodies and minds in another room.

There was nothing to talk about… scratch that… There was nothing WORTH talking about at their situation. At least, that was what everybody else thought, but, Kyon has something worth to say.

"What do we do now?"

Everybody looked at him; everybody except Nagato's, who was reading a pocketbook at a corner. They exchanged puzzled glances at each other.

"I mean, how were they able to track us like this? We've hid in three buildings far from each other and have been found each time," Kyon explained. Of course, what he said was true. They've already tried a store where they were found in just a couple of minutes. Same goes for the two other run-down buildings they took their chances on.

"Espers are also called psychics. There should be no wonder in that platform, right?" was Koizumi's answer. For his part, it was the whole truth. He couldn't explain his other abilities such as reading minds other than with psychic powers. However, he didn't actually use those other powers himself. "They could have read our minds or detected our thought to find us."

"Then women could be in trouble from perverted espers, right?"

A question led to something totally unrelated as Ryoko Asakura had to open her mouth. She was casually ignored; set aside for another time as much to her dismay.

"Asakura-san, I suggest you hold-back your new programming and keep quiet," was Shura's suggestion. He was sitting by the window as a sentry.

"What new programming?"

"Hmm… Why are you asking me? Ask Asakura-san, will you?"

The turned their attention to Ryoko who immediately heated-up the moment they did.

"W-what are you looking at me for!?"

Both curious men gave her the 'What does the other guy mean?' look. Ryoko gave them the 'what the hell' look of her own. After a moment of exchanging these glances that seemed to deteriorate to annoyance, Ryoko finally gave in.

Ryoko sighed in defeat. Kyon thought that this was a whole new side to Ryoko Asakura's personality, aside from being the caring student or the sadistic killer.

"Ah well, it's simple anyways." She raised both of her shoulders and tilted her head to one side in an 'as a matter of fact' gesture. "My emotion driver was upgraded, that's all there is to it. That is why I act more 'human' now."

She finished her sentence with closed eyes. She didn't notice Kyon and Koizumi turn their gazes at Nagato, who was at the corner reading a pocketbook. They returned their stares to Ryoko Asakura just as they had left her; the averting of gazes lasting only a few seconds.

"You're guys thinking about Yuki Nagato, aren't you?"

They nodded their heads in mutual agreement. For all they know the only time Nagato was able to show an atom of emotion was… come to think of it, she never did.

"Yuki Nagato refused to have an emotion driver placed on her system, telling her Master that it would only become a hindrance in her duties. When Yuki Nagato would be efficient in being your guardian with her unwavering enigma, I was to be efficient in gathering information with my almost-perfect interaction with the human society." She paused before continuing on. "I was only a back-up, after all…" Her tone lowered as she said that final statement.

They heard a book close. They turned their heads to Nagato who was the only one who had a book at that time. She looked at the with eyes as cold as snow… maybe that was why she was named as such… she was as cold as snow.

"You've let your installed emotions affect your clear judgment. Your emotion driver modified your processing unit to generate a will of your own. You succumbed to earthly desires and wished for change. As your superior, I couldn't have such complacency in the field; therefore, I eliminated you."

Ryoko stood-up and flung her shining blue hair to her back. She had a half-smile on her face as she engaged in a staring contest with another human-purpose interface like her.

"So, you're just content on just being a lifeless puppet for our masters to play with? You feel no emotion towards anyone whom you're trying to protect. You're like a hesitant slave that performs manual labor without any heart or enthusiasm."

Kyon and Koizumi were speechless in awe as Ryoko Asakura assaulted Nagato with her harsh words. From their point of view from Ryoko's back, it looked like a one-on-one scene from many Hollywood movies they had watched.

Shura held-out his hand in slight attempt to stop their growing argument. Much to his rejection, he was ignored.

"Tell me, Nagato-san; what keeps you from protecting this wimp that our subject, Suzumiya-san, has fallen for?"

Kyon felt his eyebrow twitch upon hearing her call him a wimp. Well, at least it was better than being called 'Kyon' again… or not.

Nagato stood there without a word, finding within herself, inability to answer her question. It was a foreign feeling to her so she couldn't quite handle it very well. Thankfully, she was honest to herself and she knew what her answer was; none. She had absolutely no reason to protect Kyon and Haruhi aside that it was an order from her Master.

"I… have no reasons… I was simply ordered to… I was programmed to protect them…" For the first time in her brief three-and-a-half years of living, she had staggered to verbally transmit data from one point to another. Without meaning to, her gaze drifted to the floor and her left hand found its way to her right shoulder. If anything, she looked like a timid high school girl who was just asked a very personal question.

A small, feminine grunt escaped Ryoko's mouth and she showed a kind smile to Nagato. She raised her right arm over her head, held her right shoulder with her left hand and arched her body as far as it could go.

"Well, I guess you're not so much a doll as I thought you are…" She returned to her normal, proud standing position and smiled even wider, if that was possible. "You can feel; that makes you more human than a doll."

Sensing an opening, Kyon cleared his throat to attract their attention. He still had a lot of questions to ask and he thought that he better hurry before something happened.

"What is it, Kyon-kun?"

"Well, I was thinking… What is the espers' plan? None of you guys really told me what it is and I really want to know."

Awkward silence followed as they stared at each other with puzzling gazes.

"Come to think of it, I don't know that myself," Ryoko replied. They looked at Nagato who shook her head for a 'no'.

"The slider shared the other data directly to the Data Integration Thought Entities, whilst I only have data that I was allowed to download from my Master's bank. That data did not contain details on Asuka Shura's data transfer.

The three heaved a heavy sigh. Ryoko, Kyon and Koizumi were deeply disappointed. If they knew what Shura's theory was, then they would be able to act more efficiently in stopping this new threat. Of course, they could've asked the slider himself to answer that question. Feeling a bit of dejection, Shura frowned and closed the window overlooking the city.

"I know! Why don't we ask Shura-kun instead?" Ryoko proposed. Kyon and Koizumi lit-up at the idea; so did Shura, who snapped-out of his dejection in a mere second. Although he still didn't like it too much being called 'Shura-kun', it felt a whole lot better when it was a girl who called him that.

"You should've asked me in the first place!" Shura declared proudly. His ego skyrocketed to the sky being the result of dejection disappearing as quickly as a popping bubble. He began laughing-out-loud; Kyon could somehow feel his happiness; were they ignoring him that much?

"If you el-oh-el (LOL) that much then the espers might find us…"

Kyon was surprised. "_Did she just use internet slang?_"

The higher they rise, the harder they fall. As Shura heard those words, the mental shock froze his body and his laugh. His face slowly contorted into a sad expression as he realized that what she said was true. And also, like Kyon, he was also surprised that Ryoko just used internet slang…

"Excuse me, Asakura-san. Did you just say LOL?" Koizumi asked her… even though it was obvious that she did.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I was wondering where you got that…"

Ryoko thought for a while, looking up at the ceiling and pressing her index finger on her cheek. About a second or two, she finally answered.

"I learned it from this planet's global data highway domain… I believe humans call it the 'Internet," she answered with a haughty smile.

"_The internet… right…_"

Koizumi, followed by Kyon, diverted their attention to Shura, who was waiting for them to stop, to try and get what they just heard from Ryoko out of their minds.

"My theory is easy, but complicated; they want to kill you for Suzumiya-san and use her for something, just like what my agency once planned before Sarah slaughtered them. I don't know what that something is but I could tell that they're really into it, even resorting to killing you, Kyon-kun. By that bias, I deduced that they were up to something pretty terrible. But, I had to find proof or I couldn't get help from any other species that Suzumiya-san created; namely, the Data Integration Thought Entities' aid. I was getting nowhere if everyone acted normally around me so, I joined Suzumiya-san's brigade, hoping to catch the attention of Nagato-san and Koizumi-kun."

Koizumi's eyebrow twitched as he heard that honorific. As much as he liked to call them both 'Kyon-kun' and 'Shura-kun', he didn't like the sound of 'Koizumi-kun' at all…

"I meant to approach Suzumiya-san directly but, when I got to your classroom, I found-out that she was not there; only you."

"So, you approached me instead?" Kyon asked, remembering that moment where he just unconditionally appeared right on his face.

"Yes. Though, it should have been a normal greeting. Sarah just doesn't like it when I go talk to other people…"

As soon as she heard her name, Sarah cuddled closer to Shura's arm. They looked good together if you didn't mind that the girl was a murderer and the guy was a mild-mannered unselfish bastard that kept appearing on every date Kyon and Haruhi goes to.

Kyon also remembered the time when she appeared in front of him, looking at him with one of those 'looks that can kill'. He shivered at the very thought.

"After that meeting, I was able to join the Brigade and catch Koizumi-kun and Nagato-san's attention. They kept themselves at a static state so I had to do something that might get them to act. So, I followed you and Suzumiya-san to your first date." Shura paused for a moment before continuing. "Actually, I was there for another reason too. The other reason was that I wanted to help you out on your first date. I knew you weren't prepared for your first and I didn't want you displeasing Suzumiya-san." He started chuckling when he finished that sentence. Kyon looked annoyed and irritated at his revelation.

"_So that was his motive, huh?_"

"At least that plan worked – Koizumi-kun and Nagato-san showed themselves as stalkers and followed us around until the restaurant where we had a bicker with Suzumiya-san's father…"

"_So THEY were the stalkers!?_" the thought of Nagato wearing a hooded sweater while reading a book, at the same time, stalking someone was pretty humorous to Kyon. Actually, Kyon had already suspected Nagato as being one of them but common sense told him that she wouldn't have resorted to something as simple as that.

"I was planning to let them follow us a bit more but, Kyon-kun told me that they annoyed him. So, I had Sarah knock them down for a bit."

Kyon remembered Shura asking him if they bothered him; he also remembered agreeing to that question. He would've said 'no' if he knew they were Nagato and Koizumi.

"To be honest, I was shocked when I met Suzumiya-san's father. I never thought he was that brawny and handsome!"

The three; namely, Ryoko, Koizumi and Kyon grumbled in disgust at what he just said. They all questioned themselves if Shura was gay or not.

"And what does Haruhi's father have to do with anything?"

Shura huffed and held his breath for about two seconds. "Well, he HAS something to do with all this. But, I don't have enough proof to accuse him of anything other than disturbing my plan on making your first date a blast…" He sighed and grabbed a fistful of his hair, smiling almost sadistically. "But, that didn't stop me from burning his house down to find out more!"

Kyon held his head, too embarrassed to add a comment, and sighed while murmuring '_Oh, boy…_'

"So, did you find something out?" Koizumi asked half-heartedly; already fearing the worst. Much to his relief, Shura closed his arms and shook his with for a 'no'. He exhaled a large amount of Carbon Dioxide and the tense state of his body finally loosened-up.

"But, I was able to—"

A sentence that about to surprise them all was interrupted by a loud explosion and the appearance of smoke. They all jolted-out of their sitting positions and scanned their surroundings. They tried to find-out where the explosion happened.

"The explosion was not within ten meters of this room…" Nagato coldly informed them as she calmly placed her pocketbook back in the pocket of her cardigan.

"That would mean…"

"OMG…!" Everybody's eyelids itched…

"Haruhi!" Kyon yelled-out and ran to the door, finding that it was blocked from the other side by something; probably debris. He started slamming on to the door in desperate attempt to break it down and run to his loved one but to no avail.

"Sarah, break that door down!" Shura commanded.

Koizumi glanced at his former attacker and saw that she had already let-go of Shura's arm and positioned herself in front of the door; her fingers twitching wildly. He somehow knew what was already unfolding and tried desperately to get Kyon out of her way.

"Get out of there, Kyon-kun!" Koizumi yelled as loud as he could.

Kyon was only human and couldn't react that fast. Fortunately for him, Ryoko jumped-in and got him out of Sarah's way before she ripped the door apart along with the pile of concrete behind in to smoking shreds. Beyond the destroyed door were raging flames.

Without thinking twice, Kyon flailed-out of Ryoko's restraining grip and ran to where Haruhi was supposed to be resting, guarded by another human-purpose interface named Emiri Kimidori. He didn't even notice Sarah's killer stare as he accidentally bumped onto her shoulder.

He was too much in a panic to see Haruhi to even notice that the flames were already burning through his flesh as he ran. His face lightened-up as he saw the door that would lead him to her come into view. His mind began to recover rational thought and external consciousness; he finally felt the pain of walking through fire and, behind him, he could hear Koizumi and Shura yell-out his name. But he had to push-through. With a quick, almost trembling motion, he opened the door.

"Haruhi!"

Kyon was able to yell-out her name one last time before he felt his body weaken. His knees buckled and he felt his arms go limp. His mind slowly blanked-out and his vision started to blur. He heard Koizumi and Ryoko yell-out his own name and saw their figures before his consciousness finally broke and sent him to a deep sleep.

"_Haruhi…_"

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Well, this is it; I'd like to ask you – the readers – this pretty important question: Carnage or no carnage? Depending on your answers and, since I like to describe gruesome things so explicitly, this FanFic could raise it's rating to M on the chapter after the next one (namely: chapter 12)

And also, if you guys would like, I could keep some questions unanswered for more suspense or, reveal them in the next chapter for less thrill…


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